Keba's Chronicles: Path of the Moon
by Quentix Starwing
Summary: A new story, telling the tale of Keba Tsukino, a boy of the moon whose soul has followed his cousin Serenity to Earth join him in his adventure to keep his long made promise. Chapter 14 is underway!
1. Prologue: Origins

Disclaimer: I do not own Sailor Moon in any way shape or form, there ya go; that's out of the way o.o.

(End Disclaimer)

Prologue: The Past Unveiled, Legend of a Hero

"Many legends start with some kind of farce of myth, I won't give you any of that, this is about my past…how I came to be what I am today if you will. This chapter in my life is long since past; but it makes up my past. It's very important for you to know of me Usagi." His words came soft but still striking a nerve of hers he knew she hadn't guessed yet.

Her cousin who stayed at her house for many months, lived with her and went to the same school had eluded her knowledge; she'd finally captured him in the act and found out more things about him than she'd ever figured of knowing. This boy was truly her family! From beyond the past and into the present, he'd followed her by her mother's plan to ensure her safety throughout her life and discovery as Sailor Moon. "You are trying to tell me how you have that…the symbol of the moon on your head." Her words plain yet still striking deep, she didn't know what to feel yet.

"I hadn't wanted to hide it from you, but I knew I shouldn't tell you, even after you found out you were Sailor Moon, it's just far too soon to tell you. How you feel knowing that I'm not just your cousin to the Tsukino family; but also your partner against the forces of darkness here." His eyes seemed to drift down, but her soft brush of his shoulder had him look up at her; those teary eyes held a soft smile, and then held a look of annoyance.

"Baka…I don't care that you hid it with reason, I'm annoyed you didn't say anything. I don't know how to take it, but I'm happy and maybe a little confused." The look in her eyes burned into her lightly, her words just touching him a bit more and even having him smirk a little.

"I should know that since I've known you as long as I have, but still I can't just go letting every one know…You've only just met Sailor Mercury and I happen to know of her already, and I have recently found another two members of my Banshou. Keep this a secret Usagi…seriously; it's nothing that any scout should know just yet. I'm your guardian by choice, but you have Tuxedo Kamen and yes I know of him…heh, I know a bit of everything these days." That joke didn't amuse her and instead made her gain a little glare.

"Seee? You know so many things and yet you won't tell me!" she was pushing a point and over-dramatizing it a little bit. That brought a soft laugh from him; not helping that her whining always made him grin a little bit, face lit with laughter.

"And I can't tell you, what happens when you find out huh? You are the leader here Usagi, the one whose going to be leading us on in this battle. I'm just here along for the ride." He gave a soft brush of her shoulder. "I do have abilities like you; I can Henshin upon command and change myself in a state to fight darkness. But remember, you're the one whose leading us forward so don't let me down hmm?" his words seemed to reach her, but she had a curious look on her face.

"So what do you change into? I get cool costume and powers, how about you?" her words were avoided with a very slim answer.

"I change too, I get a new costume and powers as well." The words annoyed her since it just mirrored her own.

"What do you look like huh? Show me!" she said with a little bit of an excited voice, he made a 'sshh' face at her and shook his head.

"Not something to just show you now, you'll see me when you really get stuck in a battle. Then I'll be there okay? You can dust most monsters from what I've seen." That hit a nice nerve, as a tick vein appeared on her forehead.

"So, you've seen me already huh?! Well that makes it fair, then you can show me!" she seemed to be pressing the nerve and pushed her finger against his nose, he shook his head and just made a face at her.

"Nah, you'll get to see it later on okay?" he said as he got up and slipped to the door. "We've talked about it okay? You know and I'm sure you'll tell Luna about me now." He smirked lightly and left before she could say another word.

While he walked down the hall to his room, he'd only revealed the tip of the ice berg since she caught him; she'd have to find out the rest of the information much later on. It was far from time for her to know now.

-- -- -- -- -- -- --

(Flash Back)

His eyes remained watching Princess Serenity dance with Prince Endymion of Earth, watching them glide over the dance floor and smiled softly, as he turned and had looked up to the night evening. They were perfect together…and so he knew this, it was something he'd promised he would protect. "To all that brings life to this universe, ensure that even should this kingdom fall…that love won't be lost…don't let my cousin suffer. I make this vow and pact, no matter what happens I'll fight to defend this; I'll face any evil of any size. Any darkness will stand before my justice; my blade will protect them as it has before."

Prince Royiaru Tsume, A prince of the Moon kingdom; while never being able to gain the throne, he was still of the royal family. Directly related to Princess Serenity by blood, had him with a special tie to her. He grew up by her side, often tagging along with her, but always more adventurous. Prince Tsume was widely known about the Kingdom as simply; Guardian Warrior Prince for his feats in facing the Dark Kingdom in conflicts in the past. Even now, his strength hadn't done anything but grow; anything involving Serenity would receive a defensive retort for his cousin.

"No...they're coming this far? The Dark Kingdom...those humans, how dare they...!" he turned and had started to his tower, to gather the Banshou to defend the kingdom. This was too close, they were too close and he couldn't let them get closer. He found himself in a little shock that Prince Endymion had come here to warn them, but the fact that he was so willing to protect Serenity had made him happy she loved him. He would protect her now, he had work to do in protecting the kingdom. Then he heard a voice that made him stop, he frowned lightly and had given a little look to who stopped him...Serenity.

"No...no Tsume, don't go...don't leave the palace...it's not safe." her sweet voice, still so innocent managed to stir him still, she grabbed his shoulders and hugged him gently as she looked at his face. He could see her eyes quivering and just noticed the shadows in them, her worry was easy for him to sense, since it was so deep and involved him directly. "The Army can't stop them...we have to stay in the palace."

"It's why I'm going, only me and my group, the Banshou can stop them now. The Moon Army can't win a losing battle, but we can turn the tides Serenity. I know you worry for me, but you know my secret and not even your mother; my aunt knows I'm a Kinji by blood. I've more power than any mere human could dare to try-" he was cut off by her hugging him tightly.

For a moment while she held onto him, it was as if the wind billowed just for her, some wind that never truly existed blew her gown and her hair. He embraced her gently and had leaned in to listen to her words.

"We are going to go...you, me, Endymion, and mother...she wants us to come and be safe. We must live on for our people." she tried to stir his sense of duty to the people, but he...just leaned in and kissed her cheek softly.

"Serenity...I am only a Prince, a cousin to you that fights...I am a Warrior then a Prince you know that." he drew back slowly, from her tightening grip on his shoulders. His heart almost tearing as he saw the tears welling in her eyes. "Don't...don't cry for me, I'll be fine I promise you...I'll never stop watching over you. Go you love Endymion, he'll protect you as so he promised me. I trust him to his duty, go Serenity...go!" he said as he drew back and took off ahead.

He ran down the hall, not looking back to Serenity...he couldn't see that look in her eyes, there was too much pain to feel then and he needed to concentrate. He raced into the tower and had found the members already prepared for battle. He drew up his sword and sheathed it on his belt, moving to his tonfas; this would be a hopeless battle...but they'd fight for the Moon and the Silver Millennium.

"Hey guys, you know this is gonna be a hell of a battle. Let's get out there and do what we swore to do. Let's not have any word, the state is critical and chances for victory are slim to none. So I'll make this brief; Mission is to destroy the enemy and move on as fast as you can got it? Let's move!" the final words from Keba's thoughts...his eyes opened as he shot up from the bed.

"The dream again..., I know...I do know. It's finally coming clear to me..." he said again as he laid his head on the bed and looked outside, glancing his eyes at the crescent moon. Indeed it was most mysterious to him and he knew it. His destiny was coming back to him with reason, he had to act and respond.

(End Chapter)

This is the start of my newest story, I hope you all can find it to be entertaining as I write it.

R&R.


	2. Chapter: Keba's Everyday Life

Chapter 1: Where Keba stands; Everyday Life

"Usagi! Shingo! Keba! Breakfast!" the sweet voice of Ikuko Tsukino rang out in his ears, Keba responded with a gentle smile as he turned his head up from his book; unlike Usagi he was often awake and was ready for the day ahead. He stepped from his room and avoided a rushing Usagi who was putting her shoes on; he shook his head and took his time to make his way downstairs. He entered the kitchen after both Shingo and Usagi, both who were eating breakfast rapidly.

"Hurry up Keba! You're going to be late for class!" Usagi said, speaking with her mouth full as she stuffed the pancakes down her throat; man could she eat a lot and eat it rapidly and he knew it well.

Keba just grinned and ate his pancakes sparingly; he cut the food and ate it without having to rush since he was so much faster than Usagi at dashing; not to mention his knowing a number of shortcuts to the school. "Usagi, you know I always make it to school via shortcuts. I'll be fine but you just might be late." He said this teasingly as he ate another bite.

He heard her whine and knew he'd stricken a nerve, Usagi always overreacted and he loved it really, she was such a fresh breath of air; easily cheerful or angry the next minute depending on your choice of words spoken to her.

"Keba! You are supposed to take me too!!" she scowled at him, while having finished eating; she huffed at him and stood with her hands on her hips. However she only got angrier with his start of light chuckling. "What is so funny huh?!"

"Simple Usagi, I showed you the way before, remember through the two junk yards with the mean dogs? Then across the fence over the river, it's not really for you unless you can get across all that stuff without trouble." To his satisfaction, her complexion paled a little at the mention of the 'mean dogs'; he knew she'd still retort however.

"Find a better shortcut! I don't like being late!" she whined again, before Shingo gave a teasing reminder as he called from the door.

"You're gonna be late again Usagi!" he said this as he disappeared out the door; she gave a bellowing cry of some overdramatic zing and was gone from the door in moments. There was only a brief "Bye mom! Bye dad!" as she raced to school.

Ikuko shook her head and couldn't help but crack a smile, she rose and gently hugged Keba who gave a soft smile; family hugs never felt so good…he knew he was lucky to have them.

"Good bye Auntie Ikuko! Good bye Uncle Kenji!" he gave a brief send off on his way, before racing down the street quickly. He knew if he didn't hurry he just might be late now, he noticed well that Luna was following him; ever since he revealed to Usagi that he was someone who could change, he most certainly knew Luna would know eventually.

-- -- -- -- -- --

That was okay as well, since he had no intentions of revealing himself even to Luna, she had now known he was of the moon, but not much more than that. He wasn't planning telling her much of anything either; she like Usagi would find out through vision in battle or some other way.

"No need to follow me Luna, I'll be fine on my way to school. However the gesture is very kind." He said with a little smile as he hopped over the fence edge, while Luna nimbly followed on the fence; he was running through the yard with the dogs after him.

"Keba-kun, Myaah!" she jumped at the sight of the dogs leaping at the fence, making her sprint all the faster and carefully along the edge of the fence, she was after all following Keba; who was well on his way through the second part of the junkyard now.

She was a little impressed by Keba's senses, he'd caught her before she made herself known; he'd likely heard her and didn't say anything. She was also impressed by his agility, reminded him of a cat at some times with how easy he avoided the dogs and hopped the second fence; now half of the way to school through this pathway.

"It's alright Luna, come hop into my arms, you can trust me you know." He gave a genuine smile as she did oblige him and rested in his arms; he put her idly over his shoulder and smirked a little. "Hang on tight, we're going over the railing of the bridge." He gave a little head's up.

Before Luna knew it, they were already half way across the shifting water below; he caught note that she was spooked of water but not like normal cats would have been. He made sure that he moved faster and hopped over the water's surface, throwing himself into a front flip and landing on his feet as he kicked his feet up into the air quickly and curled into a front flip before landing on the grass and racing up the pathway with his pace rising as he looked at the watch that was at his side; while his feet continued to move and Luna was looking ahead, he did find a shortcut to the school. With some ease, he leapt over the back of the fence and had landed on his feet; still in that moment he threw himself forward with his own momentum and shot forward and into the back double doors.

"Well Luna, I suppose this is where I let you off, I'd expect you have places to be." He said this as he gave a soft nuzzle to her cheek, he gave a soft grin at this point; since he saw her blush a little. He was one just to give her a little something to cloud her judgment regarding him. He set her down lightly and then headed into the classroom.

In some minutes afterwards of that moment, Usagi came barreling down the hall and raced into the room quickly, then shortly following within some minutes she found herself being drawn into a moment that wasn't any better for him it seemed from the time before; it was a suffering that was constant onto her, she was stuck dealing with her own loss for being late and that was solidly known of course.

After class was over, it was half way into the day before anyone knew and the time had come for lunch; Usagi's favorite period that had come into his notice. He gave a soft grin as he watched Usagi move herself to be the first person in the line, he knew what easily it had meant and crackled his knuckles as he slipped into the ends of the line and stood with Ami, he smiled at her knowing well she didn't know just who she was beside and he knew that for sure.

"Mizuno Ami am I correct?" his polite tone reached her that much seemed most certain.

"Yes? I am Ami Mizuno." She said as she lowered the book and looked at the student before her, she hadn't recognized him, but she would find out in a moment's notice.

"Keba-kun! What are you standing still for? Come on, move the line up, you and Ami-chan are holding it back!" she brought them both out of the 'silent' point they'd focused on and brought them back to reality.

After a brief moment they were outside on the green, sitting with each other having the lunch they were intended to have really at the moment. Usagi almost blurted it out just what it was that was happening it seemed, it was not exactly what was expected.

"So you're someone who can change as well, well that is something interesting." She said this as she gave a little smile, well that meant that he was an ally since he'd come out into the open. Ami seemed to find this interesting, but of course she hadn't known what was that interesting about him for the most part.

"Yes Ami-chan, I am friend who will grant you the help that you seek." He said with a soft smile, there his attention was turned back to Usagi who was making faces at him; she did seem more annoyed than normal he found.

"I want to see your change Keba, I'm not kidding. It's not faiiir!" she said in a bit of an over-exaggerated manner that she was commonly known for; Ami just gave a soft look and looked at Usagi.

"Well Usagi, we can't just got around and change in front of everyone right? It's a better time to see it when it will become necessary; that is most prudent." Ami's logic seemed to go right over Usagi's head, though she stopped whining she looked a little confused afterwards.

"Do you mean like those big-raisin looking foods, Prunes?" she said in her commonly spoken blond-moment which she held common.

Keba just laughed then and had sipped his soft drink while shaking his head from one side to another. "No Usagi, she means at a time when it is best for it to be done." He left it at that and Usagi made a face at him.

-----------

After Lunch, school breezed by and Keba was walking to Cram school with Ami, since he'd been a comparable student to one of Ami's stature; he on some days went to Cram School to help him center his school work. Though this was one of those times that was rather difficult to balance out, he and Ami chatted idly on the way there; for once his senses down enough that he hadn't noticed eyes that watched him on the way to Cram school, another student from one of the other schools in the areas; whose piercing eyes focused on him and entirely ignored Ami's form…these eyes were of some force that wasn't clear. This figure held intentions, those that weren't ready to be revealed it seemed; now that Keba's school day was over, what did this mean would happen at the Cram School?

(End Chapter)

I hope you liked this chapter as much as I did writing it, sorry for the lack of updates, but easy come easy go.

Keba's day at school is over, his proceeding with Ami to Cram held something else in its midst; what will happen at Cram School?

Come and find out who the force is.

Stay tuned.

R&R


	3. Chapter:History's Mirror,recurring dream

Author's Note: I have my terms, now editing my chapter and the people now exist as the Kinji. But I want you to regard the species with its difference from the original breed that exists in Bleach. In this universe, the Kinji are an ancient spiritually powered moon species; whom were supreme combatants against the Negamoon forces.

Their vast spirit powers allowed them to destroy most monsters from the Negaforce with ease, however through continuing conflict, the Kinji decided it best to end the threat. Through a vast spiritual explosion, the Kinji sacrificed themselves and destroyed much of the Negaforce; though as it is come to be known, it failed in the efforts. Keba is a Kinji survivor and all that is left of the culture in this story.

I ask that you as the reader simply enjoy the story as it unfolds.

(End Author Note)

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Chapter 2: History's Mirror, recurring dream

Keba's life had been far more difficult in his past, as he remembered through yet another dream; his daily duties had included training Moon Kingdom Soldiers, meeting with the Kingdom Generals and strategist, this exhausting list of duties went on and hadn't excluded his duties as leader of the Banshou. He had nothing but loads of training and combat related objectives to complete in his day and time; he almost couldn't comprehend how he could stand all of that duty in comparison to his life as a human now.

He found it absolutely stunning at how vivid the memories were, though he didn't understand the sight of golden locks of hair…his cousin? He saw the hair was rich and beautiful, ever flowing before him; but he always awakened from the dream state as time went on. It didn't take him very long to begin wondering about whom it was; the months had begun to roll by quickly. He was growing weary of the job of spectator, but he knew that his cousin had to grow; with how often Usagi was battling he wasn't surprised at her overall growth. He was however surprised at the impressive streak as to which the Sailor Scouts; protectors of the Princess, had been emerging from their 'sleep'; it wasn't but a few months ago that Usagi was first being awakened and that she'd found out about Keba's abilities.

Though the one thing that he had been glad happened in time was that she forgot, since he never showed up and often never was around when battles broke out; it at least appeared that she had either forgotten or wasn't make much inquiry about it. Though he knew that Luna was the one who was for certain the smart one, she made efforts to follow him and or find out more about him in general; but he was secretive and good at being a recluse.

Though Usagi wasn't the only one finding out old friends who were her guardians, he himself had found two members of the Banshou and had been proceeding along in plans to monitor the Scouts and see if any serious battles erupted; though he and the Banshou occasionally picked off negaverse monsters without them making too much trouble. Keba had wanted to give at least some days of peace to the girls, they worked so hard at the job that was theirs to do. He and the other members had done this to keep from being bored as well; destroying low level monsters was done with relative ease; to they who were elites of a kind.

It wasn't until one certain day that Keba had decided to take a closer look into the life that was as a human, he almost used his identity as 'Tsukino Keba' as the alter ego role and little more. He lived and ate with his family, growing to love them and care for them; but more importantly watching over Usagi when she wasn't in the company of friends. Then he saw her…he saw her before him and was stunned entirely, up until now Keba had simply existed at school and evaded his fan club of those who adored his hair and eyes. He was frozen at his locker and seemed to be stunned most of all, in the worst way possible it seemed for him to be gone from his cerebral functions; Aino Minako had walked into the hall with Usagi, who were both surprisingly on time.

--Usagi's POV--

Usagi gave a soft giggle as she came through the hall, well she had come in with the newest of the scouts; one who seemed well into her duties and capable of much even when not acting as a Scout. She found her a wonderful and quick friend, who even now was quick to remind the others of her. "Keba!" she called to her cousin, who seemed motionless by his locker despite looking in their general direction.

"Keba? Wake up, this isn't time to sleep; it's time to say Hi to my newest friend!" she left the greeting to Minako, who was captivated for the moment by the surprising beauty that came from his face; it was the glitter that came often attached to a quick crush right.

Minako had lost the dreamy gaze for the moment and seemed red in the face, offering her hand to Keba quickly as she greeted the apparent star struck Keba; who was stuck in the clouds even more than she it seemed. "Hi Keba, you must be Usagi's cousin. I'm Aino Minako, her new friend and very glad to meet you." The sound of it coming out very formal.

(End, Usagi's POV)

---Keba's POV---

It was the formalness that awakened Keba from his 'gaze and stare' complex that had overcome him; he blushed softly a moment as he noticed her hand before him. He gently took her hand into his own and gave her a prompt handshake. "Tsukino Keba, First Cousin to Tsukino Usagi. The pleasure is truly mine to meet such beauty present before me…" he had done more than just shake it now, he dipped his head and had kissed her knuckles gently once; in a very gentlemanly manner it seemed.

For that single moment that he'd done so, it had lasted an eternity for him; he could feel her soft skin beneath his pursed lips and had felt that he wasn't worthy to kiss her hand. He, even at that moment had felt lock of his hair stroke over her hand countless times, almost as if each strand of hair joined him in giving her silken skin that kiss. He found that it had only been a few moments while he dipped, but gradually he drew back; almost hesitantly in his mindset. That disturbed him a little bit that he hadn't wanted to draw back, he couldn't identify this troubling thought within the back of his mind yet.

(End Keba's POV)

-- -- Mina's POV -- --

Her breath had been caught in her throat at the time that she found Usagi's cousin doing this, wasn't he a kind gentleman? She felt that it had immediately swept through her mind as tingling that had numbed her arm. It had numbed her arm so only she could feel Keba's soft lips on her skin. It wasn't the end of the sensation which grew into wonderful sparks of feeling within her, like fireworks set off…and this from the feeling of his almost too soft silver hair locks rolling over her hand as he dipped over. At that moment, she was beyond any normal feelings that she knew; she was soaring through life at the moment of a scene frozen in time perfectly…

The moment was broken by the sheer instance of Usagi's nudging her and her sudden commentary about her cousin. Mina blushed a little at the remarks, since they were already striking what was a rather 'sparky' moment for her now.

"Soo, you two have dated or something? You seem so oddly close, are you suuure this is the first time you met Keba?" Usagi's words had brought a question into her mind from the moment she mentioned it.

It made Mina really think about it for the minute and she could admit to herself that she never knew him. "No, I've never met him, but the feeling is strangely familiar." She said the last portion with a smile. She paid him attention in her gaze as he drew back to rise again, it left her heart pattering just a little bit.

(End Minako's POV)

-----

There was an odd silence between Usagi, Mina, and Keba for a few more moments; this lasting until Keba was tapped on his shoulder and then it struck him of what was next, he ended up blurting it out. "Uuhhh, I have to run, I have to host the Kendo Club meeting today, and our leader is out." He said this with a little blush and a hand rubbing the back of his head; he gave a soft mental laugh at himself, since he never commonly gave into his nervousness not even around a girl.

He pulled away from his cousin and Mina's side, giving himself a little excuse and had disappeared off to the kendo club with his thoughts still rolling over his moment with Mina. She was very special and in that single instant he knew, he only had a club to run right now. But he would see soon for the most certain part, that was the most important thing in his yet coming life. But for now it was just another day in his life for now.

(End Chapter)

Hope you all like this chapter, you see that Keba and Mina are connected, wait until you see the next one in mind.

R&R


	4. Chapter: Protectors of the Senshi appear

Author's note: greetings readers! I felt I should get some of my early points across so you don't hate me as the chapters come about o.o, for simply I will be doing a few things that many loyal Sailor Moon fans don't agree with. All I ask if for a fair chance here, before you think 'he's a chump! Doesn't respect Sailor Moon enough' it's not true in the slightest. I love Sailor Moon quite a lot myself, I've seen all 200 episodes of the series before writing this; so before you mock my decision you think about that. ;.

Anyhow, I escaped my original intention which is to tell you; I plan to pair off each Sailor scout in the series with a male. This very well including Sailor Neptune and Sailor Uranus, both of whom I happen to personally like a lot. I figured it could be a testament of such, think of it as a 'what if…' before deciding whether I'm a dork or not okay? Also forgive me if I do it wrong xD. Well now on with the fiction.

--- End Author's note. ---

Chapter 3: Protectors of the Senshi appear

"As I imagined, it appears we're going to need to gather everyone together and bring us together; I never thought it was just wise for every princess our great Solar system has never to know a protector of their own." Keba spoke his true feelings on the matter, he never once doubted his aunt; Queen Serenity's judgment in the slightest. But he did have his own take on the matter of the protectors of the solar system having guardians but never knowing them.

"But you know that we won't be able to stay hidden don't you? To exist here and protect them while so close, we now have feelings unlike our past; we never knew them as we will soon know them here. Certainly you can't expect us to be clear with no danger ensuing can you? They will know us with time, each and every single one of us…hah. Do you think fate planned this out?" he said as he had shaken his head, though the point did get across to Keba without much trouble.

"I know what you mean Itani, I understand the risks involved here; but think about it clearly and know we have no choice. The Negaverse isn't going to step aside and let them live peacefully, especially if they already handle regular dangers…it's about time the Banshou fell into action; we always sat on the sidelines a little too much. So go on Itani, get the word out to the others, we've got training to take up regularly now; can't remain rusty can we?" he gave him a little grin and then a thumbs up, patting his longtime friend's shoulder lightly.

With that both he and Itani left the Kendo club and went their separate ways, Keba headed back home while Itani had gone to gather the other members up, it had been far too long since they were together officially. Itani gave a little chuckle, they had some strange members…but none were better for each job as they come, from their age ranges to their number; they met the infamous Sailor Scouts 1 for 1 it seemed in a singular digit bracket. Not to mention the ages were a little close for people never knowing one another, Itani knew each Banshou member seemed to be destined or something…that was what bugged him the first time.

His memories of the visit to the Queen's Throne room had come to him first and brought him back to his exact feelings.

(----Flashback----)

Itani looked up from his lowered head, he and the other eight members of the new group had been bowing before Queen Serenity while she spoke with her nephew and the leader of this group; Prince Tsume. Itani had known Royiaru Tsume for as far back as he could remember, they grew up together and were close friends as far as back as he could think. He was wondering what this new group was called and who the eight others were, they weren't faces he knew well if at all. But he found himself looking back at the Prince as he spoke so enthusiastically about his new group and what they would be considered.

"You see my Queen; I would propose that this group here would be able to back the Moon Army in tight situations if they get cornered or outnumbers. Each of us is capable of supporting in key positions that would be meant for command. We could defend the castle's nine key positions if every an attack reached the palace, there is much that we are capable of performing as a small unit. We can act where the Moon army and royal guards are unable or not strong enough to act." He seemed highly enthusiastic about this, but he soon realized that his aunt wasn't as enthused about it as he was.

"Prince Tsume, my nephew and Crown Prince to the Silver Millennium, you speak well of protecting others and fighting for the sake of our Kingdom. But where would your guardians be? I had promised your mother and father to protect you well, with them lost you are the last kin of theirs still in the world. I know you can fend for yourself, but it is not sound to not have guardians. I can attest to the idea itself being good, but without guardians for yourself I may have to deny your wish." She rose from her throne and placed her hands on his shoulders, noting the look of dismay on his face.

"I wish not to crush your dreams Royiaru, but I can't have my only nephew lost to the wages of battle; besides you know that it would crush your cousin, Princess Serenity's heart to lose you. You are like a brother for her, always there." She spoke words enough to make him smile softly, though she looked up at hearing 'My Queen.' to see the source of the words.

"My Queen, I have a solution to the plight of the prince's guardians being needed; we shall be that shield that closely watches the prince in battle. We as friends bonded by friendship can stand up and protect the prince if ever it becomes so horrid, we are that shield the Prince requires." Itani spoke to her sincerely, meaning every word for as far back as he remember he and Royiaru always looked out for one another.

"I will hold you to your word Sir Itani, I trust your words were as your friendship with the prince goes back to your childhood; please don't fail your oath. I grant your wish to form your group, have you found a name for yourselves yet?" she said as she looked over the eight of them and then looked to the prince for an answer.

"Yes Queen Serenity, we have a name…we call ourselves 'Banshou Hyoujinken Yuugou' better known as 'Universal Sword & Fist United'. We stand for the honor and unity of friends fighting for a common cause; we will stand a testament to bonds and friendship through the passage of time." All eight seemed to speak this clearly, while each were different as could be; they did all believe in justice and would dish it out to evil.

After the prince had formally dismissed himself and his friends from the Queen, he started to lead the group towards their base, which was hidden at the base of the Palace; it was hidden so well that Royiaru was sure that should the time come, it could work as a hiding place for the Queen, Princess, and even Prince Endymion; whom the prince hadn't fully liked but did accept him as an acquaintance.

-- -- -- -- --

He was fine with the Queen's decision, but wouldn't adhere to the loss of any friends he had, especially Itani. His lifelong friend shared his dream with him and they were now forming the union group that would protect against all, though it seemed if anyone would make the sacrifice it would be him first. The Kinji… his people were known as the 'fools of the Moon Kingdom' giving up their lives for the safety of the kingdom from the Negaverse some time ago. They were well remembered but they were deemed to have some kind of a glory seeking gene or death wish of a fool, because the Kinji were willing to sacrifice themselves to protect whoever they cared for.

"Royiaru, where are you headed?" Princess Serenity had looked to her cousin, passing a gentle smile his way as he stopped walking, Itani stopping a little bit ahead of him. "You and Itani are going somewhere huh? You can take me with you can't you?" She seemed eager to ditch her princess duties and to trek after her cousin.

"Go ahead Itani, I'll see you there." He said gesturing to his friend to lead the others off, turning to look at his cousin; who leapt at him and hugged him tightly. Royiaru returned the hug, soon after finding him stuck in Serenity's arms since she wasn't letting him go. She looked up at him with her gentle eyes, a little worried and with some annoyance hinted in her gaze upon him.

(Serenity's POV)

"I never see you anymore; you've been really busy these past few weeks. I want to spend some time with you now and then you know; honestly it's irresponsible of you to keep busy." She hugged him closer and just sighed as she let his protective arms encircle her, it was the gentleness of a brother that she never had. He was that brother who watched after her and never let danger come to her, but he wasn't so uptight not to let her join him in some antics.

"Remember when we were younger? We used to go splashing around in Serene Lake and get in trouble by my mother because 'A young princess and prince should know better than to get wet', I miss staying with you up late at night. **You **actually give me some peace and don't bother me with day to day stuff." She looked up at him, finally releasing him and then poking his chest with a little huff. "What's your excuse hmm?" she asked him very interrogatively.

She could only smile as she watched her cousin try to come up with the words; she listened to him mumble a little and say some things like 'uh' and 'um' here and there. She did love to push his buttons if she could, this was the first time in about three weeks that she'd finally gotten to see him for more than five minutes.

"Well uh, Serenity I've been gathering a bunch of friends up, we've been doing some serious training and I've been in better shape now than I have in a while. I'm sure you noticed." She watched him give some playful flexing, though the response was an array of giggles from not only serenity; but the inner-senshi that were standing less than 10 feet away from the two. She had forgotten they were there for the time, since they were so quiet.

(End Serenity's POV)

The prince found himself blushing and looking at the four girls behind his cousin that he hadn't noticed, but one look at their gowns and he knew it; there they were the four inner-senshi that protected the princess against any threat; they were astonishing. He found himself gazing at them each individually, paying each of them a glance that was equal in length of time.

He watched Princess Mercury, her soft blue hair cut short yet elegant in the nature that was much like the power she possessed, ever changing and graceful in any situation that might be faced. Her lithe frame was adorned by the beautiful gown she worn, it was the gentlest of blues that he'd ever seen, it rolled over her form as water truly could; the gown's blue hue seemed well to highlight her eyes and match the tone of her hair. The prince found himself stunned by the first moment.

His eyes moving to Princess Mars following his glance at the first princess, she was a fiery beauty to behold before any. From the beauty of her purple toned hair and the burning gaze of her eyes. He noticed that the red gown accented her beauty further, lining her curves perfectly, seeming to make her a living portrait to him. Even the way she glared at him seemed to reach his mind; he was unable to break his gaze upon them.

His eyes fell next to the considered Amazon princess of the group; the taller Princess Jupiter had been the visage of power and beauty merged into one. Her strong features standing forth, with strength well able to match any male that the Kingdom could offer; she was a powerful beauty who intimidated many. Her delicate chestnut brown hair resting in a ponytail; with several bangs just over her eyes, but never getting in the way of the intense green tone of her irises. He was captivated by how musculature was shown off by her green gown, matching her eyes' color perfectly and running over her frame beautifully; giving her the feminine appeal that many failed to see.

Though by far before him, he was stuck on the base of the gown, the one he knew to be the leader of the Inner senshi and most trusted by the Queen to Serenity's protection. From foot, he could see her beautiful golden slipper, revealed only briefly from the golden gown, which so accented her beauty. His eyes slowly moved up her form, watching the folds of the dress like a great masterpiece of art being uncovered before him; he almost didn't have the guts to follow his eyes up to her face…but he managed to do so. He was stopped then by the most captivating eyes he'd ever seen, crystal blue if ever he'd noticed were focused on his eyes now. What? She was looking back at him he noticed, staring into his eyes and matching the glance in his eyes. He stumbled back to reality, when pushed by Serenity; who was annoyed by his zoning out.

"Did you hear a word I said? You shouldn't be staring at them, they might get mad." She said teasing him, since they were giggling at him; all but Princess Venus who was looking at him in some curiosity. Though the gaze was broken by him now, since he was blushing.

He gave a soft bow to Serenity and the Inner-senshi and gave his cousin one last message.

"I'll see you tonight I promise, we'll stay up and star gaze in the serene fields okay? I'll see you Serenity!" he called back to her as he waved idly.

"Okay! You'd better show, otherwise you'll face my fury!" she said it in a joking manner but meant it, this was finally something she could look forward too.

All unknown to them, Itani had seen this with his very own eyes; he was amused most of all. "So, Royiaru likes Princess Venus? Well isn't that something to think about." He shook his head, since he didn't imagine he'd act on it.

(----End Flashback----)

How right he knew he was, since here they were again in another time, so close and yet so distant. But…it was no different for him, he'd lost his heart to a princess who guarded Keba's cousin from threats and danger; chastity would be in the way of his feelings and that he wouldn't break. He knew that the rule was so strong, it was different enough to be a hell on his heart to hold them back; he need only hope that his heart's feelings were never discovered for her.

"You'll never know it Rei Hino…, I won't let you know." Itani said to himself, shutting his eyes as he turned and went off to gather the Banshou, it'd be time to act soon against the Negaverse; a pre-emptive strike that counted.

(End Chapter)

Itani is introduced, who is he? Who are the other Banshou members?

A group that was created to protect all of the Moon Kingdom made in secret, what does this mean for destiny?

A Pre-emptive strike as well being planned...so many questions, the only way to find out is the next chapter.

Hope you enjoy this one as much as I enjoyed writing it .

R&R


	5. Chapter: Light of the Moon Dance, Part I

Chapter 4: Light of the Moon Dance, part I

"It was a dream I so vividly remember, the dancing moonbeams bathing my skin, yet giving me pain...how could what I love give me pain?" the words murmured in his mind, Keba stirred from his dream in bed. Being bothered by the thoughts on his mind.

"Again...it happened again." he could remember his final moments during his show down with Queen Metallia, he remembered how he sacrificed himself and he was unable to do more than to wound her before he perished.

It would happen again and he knew it, that Queen Metallia or her pitiful stand in servant, Queen Beryl would dare to stand against him again. "This time, I will stop you." He said it confidently, he was different however.

He knew he wasn't so much like Royiaru was, he was changed since he was now human; he loved his life and refused to trade it for anything for his current life, his powers were returning; he had shown nothing that Usagi needed to know yet. She knew he was a magic boy to her magic girl, using the magicks of the moon to transform and fight; but his powers were expanded.

"I have come a long way, but its time for the meeting." he remembered why he woke up so late in the evening, he had a meeting with friends, his Banshou was waiting for them to come back into order; they were only 4 strong but it was surely worth it in the plans.

He quickly got dressed and headed outside the window, he had to get to work; though he actually hadn't imagined it for a second, he might have someone follow him. He knew he could find Serena with ease, besides he knew she was snoring late by this time, she was very well out of it now.

It was however his underestimation of her that seemed to prove to be his biggest downfall, as he slipped out the window; Serena quickly followed after him with skills he didn't know she had. His leap from the window to the neighbor's roof wasn't something she could follow, but she kept up by hopping the fences. Perhaps it was her being more active at night that made her better, the fact she kept him in her sight would've made Luna proud.

"Not this time Keba, I'll find out who you are." she grinned to herself softly, trekking after him on her path to keep close; she felt more unusually close to him this time around. She wished to have more time to hang with him, for some reason it felt like she had tried this before and been disappointed. "I won't miss..." she spoke to herself, seeming to need that last confidence booster.

-- -- --

(Keba's POV)

"Ha, that was a lot easier than I thought." he said as he made tracks, tossing himself into a soft tumble in the grass; making his way to an old abandoned movie theatre, it was easy to make it a base of operations; they'd already cleaned it up and set up a makeshift table on the inside.

As Keba made his way inside of the building, he slipped in through the double doors and quickly leapt to the center of the theatre's base, on the stage was the main meeting area. His eyes found his old friends there and it was a sight that had made him quite proud, they had settled into life with ease it seemed.

"Come to Order, Banshou Knights." he said as he abruptly stopped their chatting, he grinned at them to let them know he was kidding; things were quite different from the old days. They were more on equal grounds, despite their past and what once was; it was a whole new ball game out here and that was simply the known fact.

"So what's the business?" Toku made it an early question, as simply put he was always one of the first to ask that question; to offer his word to Keba, it was his way of being obnoxious sadly enough. To put it to an end Keba answered it.

"We're hear to talk about the Princesses of course, we have some business to attend on our group as well; finding the rest of the members. This late meeting is all about it, so any questions you have I would like brought forth. Remember now, since we've reformed there is no leader; I'm just the coordinator." he made it a joke, since it was pretty much the same deal as being the leader.

(End Keba's POV)

-- -- --

(Serena's POV)

Her eyes were upon her cousin, just what was this banshou stuff? she could clearly understand that her cousin was into something far more serious than she had imagined on point. She felt something about this situation not surprising to her; as if perhaps she haad noticed something was up in the and knew it herself.

(Flashback)

Serenity's eyes focused on Royiaru at his meeting, she drew in closer and had tried to get a closer look, her heart was pounding with excitement from the moment; she could feel a thrill she didn't know quite so well, but it made her smile to do so and notice it now. Sneaking up on someone was actually quite thrilling, it easily caught her attention and made her feel less Princess-like; something she regularly enjoyed when running through the wilds outside of the Kingdom in her bare feet along with Royiaru.

"The invasion happens soon...we must not let them get closer, we are going to go ahead of you Tsume, we want you to stay here and lead the Moon Royal guards, there is no one better for it and you know it." Toku had been speaking up, there his armor rattling as he stood; gripping his fists together at the look of displeasure crossing the Prince's face. "This is no time for you to try and protect us yet again, we made a promise to each other and the kingdom, you know the Kingdom's safety comes first for this group. We are going to ambush the Negaforce army in the valley pass, that is that." Toku's words of iron hit Tsume hard, since he knew it...but this was his group to go with; to fight by their side.

"But, we promised to fight beside one another always, we would fight for honor and justice together." he seemed less like the strong prince always protecting Serenity and more defenseless, it made her frown to see him this way; she felt a wrenching moment when Toku simply rose and left the secret meeting room.

Tsume gave a deep inhale of breath, a silent heave that he let go as he rose, withholding some gleaming unshed tears as he stood. "Nothing will befall the kingdom, I know you will succeed...where as I will succeed." but just as Tsume started to follow, Serenity threw herself upon him. This moment simply shocking him now, since when was she here?

"I-I heard everything Tsume, I won't let you do it! Y-you heard Toku, you have to protect us." she looked him in the eyes, it was easy to know there was no one as close to a brother as him for her. She gripped his collar as she clung to him. "You can't leave me." she said it, she knew it was selfish, but he swore to always be there for her; he was her brother and her friend, she couldn't let him go now; not ever.

Her tears fell in soft streams, knowing she broke her promise to him not to cry over anything, but she didn't care; she just held to him closely, feeling the dread of any such invasion; but worse to her heart of losing him.

"I won't leave, I will keep my promise to you and to Toku, I'll be here Serenity; I'll protect you I promise it...okay?" he spoke so gently, that she almost hadn't heard him; just remained leaning into him while he held her. Just as the thought had further become hazy in her mind while she let it go.

(End Flashback)

Usagi was shot back into reality by the sound of a cane thumping right next to her side, well it looks like her spying was over; she looked up to Toku and rubbed the back of her head.

"Welcome Usagi to our little gathering, I am not all that surprised to see you; you see Keba?" he said as he helped Usagi up from the ground, where she caught the look of a semi-grin there on his face, simply because he knew her pretty well, he remembered the past and wasn't lost on the moment.

(End Serena's POV)

It seemed like things were getting more interesting, she was finally understanding things sooner than he imagined; he was just glad that they hadn't mentioned anything that would give away what they were really doing, she'd know at best that he had a group formed and they were discussing the princesses. But this tale was unfortunately just starting to get more complicated on the matter.

(End Chapter)

Well not a big change, since Usagi realizes that Keba is apart of something larger than himself, will she find out all of his reluctance or will it be a simple other part of the mystery behind him? Stay tuned. Also sorry it took me so long, but I finally found the right direction and time to finish this chapter.


	6. Chapter: Light of the Moon Dance,Part II

Author Notes: Whew, sorry for the long time before the next update to the chapter, heh I've been going at my other stories; I tend to take time off from each story and keep my interest growing in them all to make me write even faster than I do normally. As you've noticed as my readers, I am sure you've been seeing my interchanged use of terms and words; all I ask is that you forgive me for that little piece there. Since I've been brought up in the dubbie versions of Sailor Moon first, it is almost primary in my mind to use English. Though I had seen recently seen all 200 eps. In Japanese, it doesn't change how my mind puts in order; so if you can stand all of the mixing up, I shall get down to business now.

(End Author Notes)

Chapter 5: Light of the Moon Dance, part II

"Keba? Who is this? I heard…everything, what is all of this? The Princesses? Do you mean the other Scouts?" Usagi was very serious then, she stood up and watched Toku just grinning still. "Please Keba, no lies just the truth." She was being very direct with him and almost demanding that he gave it to her; but in a very kind way since she hadn't pressed the matter too far on him.

"Yes Usagi…yes, we are talking about the other Sailor Scouts; I am sure you know by now you are the Moon Princess right?" Keba had just revealed a fact to her; he took note of the look on her face.

"I…I can't be, I am Sailor Moon and I am doing battle with the Dark Kingdom Forces. We are looking for the Princess so we can protect her." She said what she had believed true, she wasn't so sure that it was anymore. "I've been having strange dreams as of late…are you responsible for them?" she frowned then, looking at him since he had mentioned his own dreams.

"No Usagi, I would not do such a thing to you; I wouldn't like to torment you with confusing riddles of the past through dreams." He said that as he really meant it from his heart; he didn't want her thinking that he was conjuring up this whole thing and playing these games against her mind and heart. "They are naturally occurring and are as true as your past; do not let them cloud your judgment now however." He was giving her a warning.

"S-so…I'm the Princess of the Moon then?" she sounded confused and skeptical. "What does that make you? You are my cousin in this life, does that make you the duke of the past?" she was trying to make it a joke, but she was so confused…she wasn't sure what to feel at this point.

"No, I am the First Crown Prince after you; I am the Warrior Prince Tsume Royiaru I imagine you have seen in your dreams." He meant that, she'd see the same intensity that she'd seen in her mind.

"H-How..? How are you still here, you are Keba! You aren't this…Tsume." She frowned then, she did see he looked similar but…she didn't want that to be the case. She wasn't sure why it made her feel so bad; perhaps it was she didn't want to lose him? She felt her heart wrench tighter; oh…yeah that was the reason.

"I am Tsume reincarnated." He gently took her shoulders and smiled, then hugged her. "Usagi-san…breathe, stop thinking that…I won't leave you here; come on…you know me better than that." He held her closer and rubbed her back.

"H-how…did you..-" she couldn't finish, but she saw the look in his kind eyes.

"Know? Because your eyes tell me Usagi, so much like in the dreams; I know you are already fearing for me." Keba held her closer and kissed her forehead. "But what did I say in the dreams..? Not to worry right? I was there and I am here now." He said it gently.

Usagi gripped his shirt and pressed her face into his shirt, his scent was soft and soothing to her. "B-but you lied in the dreams, you promised…you'd always be there; you died…you died…" she had seen it already, her eyes watered more as she was clinging to him; for this first time in this day and age. "I watched you die…fighting the Queen, I saw your fight; every blow you took and tried to fight back…I can't see that again Keba." Usagi was speaking as if it were definitely the end now.

"Usagi, do I look like I'm going to die?" he drew her chin up to look at his face, he was smiling radiantly as he embraced her again. "Don't shed tears just yet okay? Since you found all of this out, then we'll just have to let you know our plans." He wasn't going to hide it anymore, though he wasn't going to tell her everything; it was hardly that time.

"You will? Will you…promise to let me know when you go out? I want to fight by your side, these memories are painful…I felt so helpless." She gave him a serious look then, taking his hand. "B-But not anymore, I am Sailor Moon and I can fight now." She seemed to want to prove it, but Keba gave her a light smile; she looked to him for a worded answer.

"Yes then, we'll fight alongside each other alright? And I see that look in your eyes, when I go to fight the Dark Kingdom I will be asking you along; but that doesn't mean every time alright? You have the scouts to lead and I still have the Banshou to tend to, I can't let you wear yourself out trying to do both." He meant that seriously, she'd see in his face he wasn't backing down from that.

"Alright, I guess that's better than nothing; besides I want to see you transform." Her eyes lit up, as she returned to her previous chibi-like attitude. "We get to finally hang out ! I am so psyched." She was a little out of character, but technically overjoyed about being with Keba; it was something she always noted he was constantly going out.

Keba stroked her shoulder and led her to a seat at the table, beside him. "Well Toku, would you mind starting us up?" he asked his old friend who had found her out to start this up.

Toku made a little face at him and promptly went on with it. "Well, first I will say Welcome officially to our meeting; we were discussing finding the other members of the Banshou. They either have been alerted of the evil on their own or they are not yet awakened by their memories, we can't determine that, but we must find them." Toku stated the business as clear as it was.

"Well, do we have any idea of a location?" Keba asked the next most important question as he looked at him.

"Yes, only one other…the Wolf of our group; who is just as fierce as you might expect." Toku made it clear who the next they were to seek out.

"Really? Then I'm almost very sure that means we'll be fightin' then." Keba didn't seem to be surprised by it at all, in fact by the grin he was looking forward to it actually; he seemed to find it most amusing. "Resistant plague you might say." Keba shrugged. "I'll get him along soon enough." The way it sounded was that it was more a threat or something that needed to be done hardened in the manner.

Usagi looked at him and blinked. "Isn't he part of your group? Why would you call him a plague? It sounds like you have to force him or something." She was hoping for some kind of a good answer from him.

"That's the general idea actually, he's also resisted my being any kind of leader figure; or rather he is constantly pushing at me so we can fight; it's the only way to make him happy." He said with a little smile that was on his face, a general grin.

"Keba, you're horrid." She saw the fang and shook her head, he was grinning and showing that cute fang from his mouth; she had to smile though at the sight of it.

"Well, it's the only thing that works against him as far as I know." Keba wasn't going to bother questioning him; he looked over to Toku, for anything further.

"There is nothing further than that friend Keba, just the first attentions at getting to him first." He said it while looking at his face; he turned and looked to the door. "Well, I have to go to Cram school." He said as he rapped the walking stick along the ground. "I will see you all later." He said as he started forth out of the theatre and left the two of them alone then.

--- --- ---

Keba and Usagi were headed home by this time, they were chatting on the way home, and she seemed to be happier than ever; really since she felt the veil of mystery about her favorite cousin was a bit more active now. She was even happier to speak with him then.

"I am glad that we aren't hiding anything from each other, really I was worried about you when you'd go off on your own as often as you would." She told the truth, holding her hands behind her back; she turned to him and was grinning in a catty manner herself.

Keba shook his head, unable to help but smile at her since she was so happy now. He did seem to notice that things were better for her, she wasn't even whining at this point and that nearly stunned him. "Usagi…promise me you won't ever change?" he was asking it in light, but smiling at her still.

"What do you mean by that Keba-kun?" she looked to him a little confused.

"I just mean, I love who you are most of all now; even remembering who you are shouldn't change you entirely is all I mean." Keba tapped her forehead with one finger very gently as he smiled and moved past her.

"H-Hey!" Usagi let loose a familiar whine and had chased after him and leapt onto his back then. "Now you have to carry me home ." She nuzzled his hair, while feeling him support her; she held onto him and had giggled a little bit. It was a rare thing to have her cousin carrying her, not since they were children often.

He brought Usagi with him and took her home so that she could take care then, while he would show her how to train later; it was obvious that he would be taking her to learn such a basic thing as that. He offered her a soft smile as he led her on, still smiling and not yet breaking the look on his face as they had finally made it home.

----- (Several Hours Later) -----

At Dinner Keba and Usagi had settled in and were eating dinner at that time as she had just finished stuffing her face, Keba had finished a little bit following her and seemed to prove to be a kind of comfort for Usagi; to find him there and eating dinner instead of coming in late.

He promised her now, that they'd fight by each other's side and she was holding him to it. She had previously been fearful for his safety every time he disappeared, he was behaving awful similarly to Royiaru she noticed; it didn't bother her too much because...he just a kind of attitude that let her know he wasn't as serious as before. She liked Keba, he was sweet, kind, and considerate while looking out for her; but best of all he was loose around the rules and not so rigid.

She noticed Keba looked up at the window and had gotten up from the table, once desert was just being finished.

"Aunt Ikuko, the dinner was delicious and so was the desert; thank you so much!" he was smiling, there and bowing his head to her respectfully.

Of course his Aunt only giggled and smiled in a charming manner. "You are so kind Keba, but there is no need to bow; please you are always welcome to enjoy all of my food and deserts." She was a pleased with his response to the food.

Usagi had smiled and made a big fuss as she often did, but in a good way, "Momma , the food was wonderful; save me some extra desert!" she said as she grabbed Keba's arm and dragged him away from the table.

"Where are you going this late Usagi?" she asked her daughter, a little surprised by the sudden movements.

"Keba and I are going to be studying at Amy-chan's this late, I need to get better test results right?" she came up with a good fib to tell her mother.

"Well if that's where you're going, then take your coat and watch out for her okay Keba?" Usagi's mother reminding them in more than one way it seemed this time.

"Of course Aunt Ikuko, I'll watch out for her; have a great evening." He said as he put his coat on and opened the door, watching Usagi do the same as he followed her out the door and shut it behind them.

Usagi grinned, noting the confused look on his face. "Come on! I know you sensed something, I know that look of yours; let's go get that youma!" she said rather in an excited manner.

"Ah..., I can see that those dreams have taught you much about me." he said as he attributed it to that, but she poked his nose.

"I know you here all the same Keba ee." she made an annoyed anime-glare, narrowing her eyes. "I've known you since we were kids as well ya know? You always make that face when you are thinking of something."

Keba blinked for a minute, since he never really knew that he made any kind of a face that brought notice to him; however she giggled after and took his hand and yanked him along, breaking his train of thought.

"Come on! Silly boy, just lead on to this youma; I want to show you what I can do!" she seemed to be very psyched about it, it was rare to see her like this; but something involving proving a thing or two to Keba? she was determined and that of course counted in protecting people from youma as well it seemed.

Keba was grinning a little bit, he had to admit he was a bit surprised to see her so into the idea of fighting a youma; she wanted to see him fight and also for him to see how strong she got. Well now she would certainly get her chance now, he felt the youma was very close.

--At the Tsukino Residence--

Luna's ears perked up after hearing the door downstairs open, she hopped out the window at the sight of Usagi dragging Keba off somewhere; it wasn't as if she was told about the transgressing events that happened while Usagi had disappeared today.

"Just where is she taking him?" she asked herself while she began to chase the two down, it wasn't that hard to keep pace with the two and the light jog; Luna was going to get to the bottom of this she had decided.

(End Chapter)

Well quite a turn of events I know, I hope you all don't mind Usagi being a bit more bold this time through; with her memories triggered early by her interactions with Keba and Toku, she was reminded of a lot. She had always been worried about Keba in the past when he was Tsume and with good reason.

Now she is not only a bit tougher but more confident for it, don't worry xD, I won't be rid of her clumsiness from the story, that wouldn't leave her Usagi now would it? Well I hope you enjoyed this chapter.

Until the next, Adieu

-Quentix


	7. Chapter: Trials of a Princess

A/N: Forgive me for this extraordinarily long silence, for any fans who read my fic, you will have much to look forward to as I intend to pick up my action even more; I will be writing far more often than I have before, my writer's block is overcome and school isn't keeping down as I imagined that it was in the apst; so no worries, prepare yourself for some major catch up this time.

A few notes on the story, I have indeed made Usagi a bit bolder here; I'd figure having such a close family bond on the battlefield might make her stronger. She will still be herself outside of battle, but I hope you as fans of SM don't mind this stronger version of Sailor Moon; more confident in her own right, but not too terribly so.

Also, Keba is stronger than Sailor Moon in some ways, given his extra powers you've seen so far you shouldn't be that shocked, I mean come now he does have the powers of a Moon family member, given his close relations to Usagi. He's been involved in plenty of physical activity outside of his Henshining abilities, they do cross over since he is resourceful; so all I ask is if you have any problems with them; consider these thoughts here ;, but now enough chatter and onward with the story.

A new term is being given today, that term is:

Lunrei- The energy harnassed by the Kinji (Yes I have finally come up with a good original breed name for this and I have fixed it in other chapters) and utilized in forms of their bows and arrows, though it also allows them other energy forms, for instance blasts in the form of an orb, a dagger, or other smaller common energy forms when not crossbow or bow shaped.

(End A/N)

Chapter 6: Trials of a Princess, Usagi's Determination

The days were passing more swiftly these days, as Usagi's fondest wish had finally come true; she was fighting alongside Keba, he was accepting her as more than just some helpless bumbler! Well at least for the most part…she knew she was having some trouble keeping pace with his graceful actions, she never knew that Keba was so flawless in battle. Even now in class she was thinking about the last fight that she and he had won.

(--Flashback--)

As Sailor Moon, Usagi had been trying to impress Keba, she rolled on the ground and avoided the youma's eye beams; bringing her gaze back to Keba who covered her retreat flawlessly, she watched as her cousin's fists slammed into the back of the youma and forced her into a stumble.

"Why you little rodent!" the youma's turn came swiftly, her thorny tail sweeping at Keba and only catching some of his spreading hair; though it was part of the illusion since he was gone, his foot sweeping low and picking the youma off her feet with a simple movement.

"Now Sailor Moon!" His voice carried on as the youma hit the ground from the sweep, he had left her vulnerable to attack and that was just what he knew was time for her to act.

"R-Right! Moon…Tiara Action!" Sailor Moon's attack came with some swift movements, she found the attack much easier to pull off by simply tossing it at her enemy; it even seemed to be stronger in her eyes, she felt that with Keba here that things were much simpler.

As the monster was defeated by the attack, Sailor Moon was kind of shocked at first, she saw that the youma was defeated rather simply; was it really this easy? She had done it a few times before this and found it to be an issue about her having problems defeating her enemies, normally they gave her problems when it came to facing them. Tuxedo Kamen had shown up in the past and saved her life, even managing to keep the evil General Jadeite from causing her any harm; but her thoughts here were more focused on how simple this was.

Her thoughts seemed to be stuck on it, was Keba possibly stronger than that? Was he holding back? So many things on her mind…

(--End Flashback--)

"Usagi…, hey wake up..," Keba nudged his cousin softly by her Odango, just tapping it to get her attention; he had never noticed that she slept so much. He was usually in another part of the room, but the teacher had moved their seating arrangement closer; go figure right?

"Hmm? Oh…Keba, I had such a great nap…" Usagi's yawn was wide and loud, she stretched out and though it was lucky for her since it had just turned to lunch.

"It's lunchtime, I do believe Luna wishes to speak with you about me." Keba said as he rose, patting her shoulder. "Go on, I'll see you after school." Her elusive cousin waved to her as he started to head off.

"W-wait Keba!" Usagi stumbled into his back, well for once her clumsiness was used for something good? She had come into his back and was clinging to his waist to keep from falling over the rest of the way.

"Whoa!" Keba caught himself against the desk, and turned in her still clinging arms; Usagi was a mystery sometimes. "Err…Yes Usagi?" he said blinking now.

"You gonna leave me here again? I wanted to hang out with you more." She whined to him, giving him a slightly teary face.

His anime sigh came, as he shook his head and looked at her.

"Hey I promised you we'd hang out more, I just like to hang out with the Kendo Team, after all where else do I spend my days? It's not all about work after all." Keba did have a small part time job, for the extra money on the side was nice to have; he was living a normal life and one of great mystery as well.

"Well, if you say so I guess its alright." Usagi said as she seemed to be perfectly okay the next minute; as she let him go and then gave him a light kiss on the cheek and skipped off to go to her lunch; she seemed to be far happier at this point; suddenly her moods having shifted and gotten better.

Keba laughed a little bit and shook his head, he'd never fully understand that girl; family or no she did have the strangest way of reacting to things and he knew it to be so. He headed off as he meant to, heading off to the gym to have his lunch and chat with the Kendo team; though he hadn't been on the team this year, his past participation and regular practice made him a welcome visitor to the group when they were not training.

-- Back with Usagi --

She had been on the grass, eating her lunch under the tree, just when she saw Luna come over; immediately she gave a small wave to her cat, she had been genuinely glad to see Luna was alright now.

"Usagi-chan, where's Keba? I have some questions for you two." she stated pretty firmly, looking at Usagi with a face that was fairly neutral; she knew that Keba was her cousin but he was far too suspicious and she wanted to understand what had been going on with the two of them, since they both had disappeared the night before and hadn't returned until about 11 p.m.; something that she hadn't known Usagi did for much else than fooling around most times.

"We were just hunting so youma, he can sense smaller youma activity, Luna he's so amzaing! I never knew, but you were right on your um...err...whatever you call your thoughts." Usagi stumbled over the words making less than any sense.

Luna thought about for a minute, she remembered telling Usagi to keep an eye on him if possible and that her suspicions were that he was hiding a fairly large secret, "You mean my suspicions Usagi, so what is his secret? You two fighting youma isn't the news I like to hearing,...wait a minute; you were hunting youma? He knows your Sailor Moon?!" Luna seemed to be rather shocked, more along the lines that she told him, her identity was supposed to be a secret.

"I didn't tell you Luna? I thought you already knew, he is the Crown Prince of the Moon Kingdom! He's really my cousin, and its not like he's just to my one family ." she seemed to be very happy, as it was just the one he promised he was, her fmaily to take care fo her in battle and away from it.

"No Usagi, you failed to mention that." Luna had said with a light murmur, a sweat drop appearing above her head since Usagi was so clueless...didn't pay that fact any mind.

Well Usagi explained it all to Luna pretty effectively, much of the time Luna was more or less stunned by the unfolding tale, so this boy Keba..was he her charge as well? No, not that she figured, her thoughts weren't very straight forward to her; but she seemed to think Keba was on his own, at least for now he was. The young man seemed to be well equipped for a lot of the unfolding events, and from Luna's understanding; She found Usagi wanting to be Sailor Moon more and more now.

"So Keba, he is your family in the sense of your past and present, this is a shock to me...but I can see why you are finally taking your duties with a want to get better." Luna smiled again, having felt more supportive of Usagi now; she wanted to try and protect Keba despite how good he was.

"I'm not gonna fail again.." she said softly, though she did purposely fail to mention such things; like her dream...her memories of being Princess Serenity, the then Royiaru's death at the hands of Queen Metallia or was it Queen Beryl..she wasn't even sure, only that she was responsible for it before.

"Fail what Usagi?" Luna looked to her, noting the seriousness that crossed her face, she was intent on knowing.

"Umm, my test...I won't fail again; Keba's gonna help me study!" Usagi beamed, hoping that she'd retain the knowledge of her wise cousin; this wasn't a lie and surprisingly it was what she was alluding to at this point, she wasn't going to fail something else as well.

Luna did let it go, but she knew that Usagi was hiding something, it was something that more serious to her; that much she did understand and that was something that she could forgive. Usagi was determined to get this done, whatever it was 'well do take care of it well Usagi and be careful' she said this to her in a soft spoken tone, though Usagi was already dancing around the room to something now.

Luna didn't know the future, but she did know that Usagi's mind should be on more than just worrying about the actions of her cousin Keba; Luna had a feeling that Keba himself knew this too and that he was probably trying to keep Usagi focused herself on the present, there was no other choice for her now since the time had come; she would have to rise to the occasion.

-- In Keba's Room --

Keba had been pacing back and forth now, trying to think of a good way for this to continue, he had revealed to Usagi some of the many plans that the Banshou had, he also made a promise that he would intend to keep; there was no question as to whether he'd try so hard to keep Usagi on a strict path, he didn't want to act like Royiaru was known for in the past.

"I am not Royiaru, in spirit I can understand but I am still me." Keba's tone seemed to be semi-frustrated at the moment, he was pacing back and forth and trying to make some headway with his thoughts, though he wasn't entirely sure how that was going to be working out.

"Yes, you are Keba Tsukino and yet you still have the drive, will, and spirit of Royiaru but it doesn't distort who you are does it?" a familiar voice came from the window, as Toku stepped into his room; having obviously been the ways down the street, but of course his skill let him enter with pure silence and stealth.

"Toku..? What are you doing here, aren't you supposed to be sleeping for tomorrow?" Keba was rubbing his head, looking to his good friend and sighing a little bit; he did know his turmoil.

"And listen to this strife, with a heart beating so frantically, full of despair that is not you Keba; I won't let you start this frantic display, we'll get through the problem as we always have in the past, by talking about it." Toku's tone was stern, he was the oldest of the Banshou; not more than a year or two older than Keba himself, but it was enough that he'd seemed to have more knowledge with his unique view of the world.

"Damn...can't hide anything from you can I?" Keba was grinning foolishly now, he seemed to believe if his appearance was practiced that he'd get away with it, then again it wasn't like Toku could see his face; he saw right past that being blind as he was.

"You know you can't, you could never hide it from me or anyone else in the Bashou; everyone has their own way of seeing through you Keba, even your cousin Usagi." Toku said in a very matter-of-fact tone; he knew he was right.

"I am just not sure how not to push her, I don't want to force something onto her and I never planned to. I revealed things a little too soon." Keba was putting the fault on himself, he was instantly snapped at.

"Wrong, Usagi brought this upon herself." Toku set things clear with a firm set of authority.

"You can't mean that, I did speak to her...I told her with my own two lips." he said looking up, as if trying to avoid the fact that she didn't bring herself there.

"Look here Keba, I am not Itani and I will not soothe you through this; get facts right. Did you drag Usagi to the meeting? Did you hold up a glowing sign and wait for her to keep up with you? No, you did none of this, she came through on her own. She wanted to know, she was worried for you, and that is why we are in this predicament as is. So don't try to be so foolish as to right now claim responsibility for her own doing, you get me?" Toku's tone was not loud, but firm and commanding; he was in the advisor position of the Banshou and had never once forgotten that role.

"Yes, I understand you Toku...thanks." Keba said with a sigh, having someone else force him to see this, kept him from being so protective of Usagi; indeed this wasn't the past and he imagined that Toku remembered his last mistake as well as he did. The one mistake that had actually been Royiaru's fault in the end, though it was triggered by Serenity; a darker secret he still wouldn't share with her.

"The past is not to be re-lived my friend, don't you dare try to help a mistake come into being again, you understand?" Toku was stating it firmly, more that he would interfere if at all this came up again; he wasn't going to have it in the slightest.

He remembered back to it, no...they both seemed to be thinking about it now; the last battle of Roiyaru's against the Queen of Darkness and her troop of evil.

(--Flashback--)

Prince Tsume stood back, panting a little bit now as his left hand gripped his sword; this wasn't supposed to be this way...how could he not be making any headway? These generals, were they supposed to be a threat? Not to him, he'd already dispatched Jadeite and Nephrite; those two were out of his hair...but Zoisite and Kunzite, the obvious pair was currently circling him; he didn't want to have to use his trump card in order to defeat them.

"Something wrong Moon Prince?" Zoisite's obvious flirting tone with the Prince, got nothing but a glare from the silver-white haired Prince who shot up into the air, this surprise allowed Zoisite to be punched back into the stone pillar offside.

Tsume attacked Kunzite while Zoisite was temporarily out of the way, though this move had him meeting an angry Kunzite; the two met swords and seemed that neither was making any headway against one another.

"You're going to pay for that Moon prince, your life is expendable unlike your little Princess." Kunzite's snide remark had seemed to work.

"Don't think you've come close to beating me yet Kunzite, two of you were nothing to me; what makes you think that you and your buddy are a match for me either?" Tsume's words were spoken in confidence, as he shoved Kunzite back forcefully and made him have to catch himself.

The clashes continued, as Kunzite met him a third time in midair before Tsume shoved Kunzite back to the ground from the air and dived in on him to follow up; it was time to end this.

"Forgetting someone?" Zoisite whispered into Tsume's ear before stabbing him in the lower side of his ribs with a dagger; which earned a swift response, Tsume's had ignited in a flower shaped blast of Lunrei energy; immediately sending the sneaky general into the same pillar as the time before; but with enough force that the pillar caved in and dropped that part of the balcony over him after the collapse of it.

"Zoisite!" Kunzite was calling the name of his lover, just the moment before Tsume swept past him with his sword; immediately leaving Kunzite frozen in place before the spray of blood signified the slash.

"Worry about yourself General." Tsume said with a glare over his shoulder, ignoring the fact a dagger was in his side; he began to walk off, before he felt a trace of Lunar energy, where was this...no, he knew this feeling.

"Serenity..." He said to himself before he raced off to go find her, there was no way that he could let this happen, she was in danger, he just knew it.

-- In the Great Hall --

Serenity had run back to the Great hall, she was scared; her guardians had gone off to defend the castle once it had its first invaders, was the Banshou acting? Where was Endymion? Where was her mother? She was terrified as to the way things were unfolding, she ended up back in the Great Hall, where the main chambers were and where she happened to feel safest, she didn't know what lay around the area, she was actually quite worried; she felt something that made her come this way.

She felt her cousin, though not something she could explain the definitely feeling of his aura; something that drew her here to find him, though she had not seen hide nor hair of him; this sent her into hiding. She was being deathly silent in her worry that something here wasn't right.

Then she heard some shifting, and the sound of a voice; of someone wounded grunting. Slowly, she peeked around the corner of the Queen's throne and watched around, to see who it was; someone she could help..? Someone she knew? She only hoped for it really.

"Serenity...help me." the voice was Tsume's as was the hair, his garb...she thought he had changed into something more suited for battle, but this seemed a little too wrong.

"Tsume? Is that you..?" she had drawn out a little bit into view, though she didn't move, Tsume asking her for help? That wasn't something common to her experience, she hung out with Tsume enough to question this.

"Yes, Serenity...please help me, I'm badly beaten.." he reached his hand up for her, the appearance of his wounds shown to her; his chest had been slashed over twice, though the slashes weren't terribly deep due to the fact his armor had taken most of the shock.

"What happened to you? I know you...you practice so diligently." she seemed upset by the sight of this, frowning on him and shaking her head softly; she couldn't believe that he could suffer as he had.

"Gotcha!" He held his hand up and grabbed at her with his telekinesis, trying to force her to come to him, but he grunted as he fell back some; since it was his grip that was weak, his wound was keeping him from holding her entirely, it was why his illusion wasn't perfect.

"No..no! Leave me alone!" Serenity knew that wasn't going to happen, but she struggled in the grip and drew back, trying to escape this hold on her, there was no way she'd let herself get caught now.

"Now, that I have you; we'll have to see how gutsy your cousin is when I show him you." Jadeite spoke as if he knew it just enough that he could move in on her and take hold of her; she couldn't resist him while he had this hold on her.

Though Jadeite fell to the floor and Serenity was thrown back, it was from a still glowing arrow that rested in his back; she'd notice that Tsume was panting a little bit after having shot him.

"Serenity, are you alright?" He said as he had walked over to her, a small limp in his step from the dagger being put in his side; he closed the wound with some cloth he tore from his cape, he looked around and the worst seemed to be over.

"Tsume, Thank goodness! But..what's wrong? You're limping." she looked to his side and saw the saturated with some blood, things were just a little out of shape as it were. But she was glad he was okay, she hugged to him close and rested her head against his shoulder.

"Serenity..." Tsume sighed and held her, she was saddened by his wound and he knew it was nothing; he'd been surprised that the resistance wasn't greater from the Dark Kingdom, he defeated every troop he came across, how coudl this be it? Where was the Moon Army? How did they lose? So many questions rolling through his mind.

"Serenity!" a voice from down the hall came, someone that Tsume recognized, Endymion came to their side. He had just been looking for her, and had found her where she was standing.

"Serenity, get out of here." he said as he gently released her, he nudged her into Endymion's arms. "Please get her out of here, I gotta get going now." Tsume was speaking to her but already drawing his bow up; it was obviously serious.

"Tsume? You are wounded..please come with us." Serenity's voice sounded despair, but then-

(--End Flashback--)

His concentration was broken, the images broken from his mind as Usagi kind of busted into his room, though he was used tot he rude entry; his shaken thought had him a little off guard at Usagi's sudden entry.

"Keba-kun!" Usagi seemed very happy to see him, she paid him no mind as he was a little off guard and just embraced him; letting both arms rest around his waist as she hugged to his side, sitting on his bed next to him while she seemed to just be resting there with her nose in his hair; she was caught up nosing her way through it.

"Usagi-chan, what brings you here? Just saying good night?" Keba assumed this was on point, since they'd more or less come to terms or rather since Usagi followed him to one of the Bashou's meeting places, then she'd been a little more attached to him since.

"Well that and I was pretty sure that something was bothering you." Usagi seemed to be pretty sure of it, she looked up at him from his hair and was still smiling. "I came to help." her voice was still so sweet, with her melodic happiness almost tangible around her.

"I was having a bad thought, just something that got me about one of the members; just how its working out." Keba did reveal a little too much about it, but he didn't make a sign that it was that well hidden.

"Trouble with your group huh? Well you can tell me about it." she said as she kicked her feet idly at the edge of his bed, she wanted to be a good listener.

"Well okay Usagi, but then sleep okay? We have a test tomorrow." Keba was bringing her back to reality a little bit.

"I remember..." Usagi said while making a face, she really didn't like tests, quizzes, or anything of that nature; she seemed to do poorly always.

"I'll help you with studying before school, I'll even walk with you tomorrow." Keba offered it to her, once more he was going to ensure that he helped her out in some way.

Though he knew she was taking too much of an interest in his problems, he needed to get across to her without upsetting her too badly; that she still had her own problems in the similar field they were in, she had the scouts to worry about...this he did need to help get across.

(End Chapter.)

Well, a surprise isn't it? A more indepth scene of the past...heh, sorry for the Cliff hanger. I promise I'll reveal more of it as the story goes on; I clipped it off for a reason you'll learn of later.

Well I beefed up the chapter (versus my shorter work before) because I feel I owe it to you guys, I'll try to keep up at least regularly to have you all with something to read. But remember I am doing this for my other works as welll, so be patient.

Till next time Adieu.

-Quentix


	8. Chapter: Secrets Learned

A/N: My apologies everyone! Summer was hard having to do a hell of a lot of summer cleaning just to ensure our windows got changed out in time for the winter, it took a while but I am back and this new chapter will try to make up for what was lost, I am going to be adding some more interesting aspects to the story.

Also, to all the Sailor Moon fans or readers just checking this out that know anything about Sailor Moon, you'll obviously realize that I'm not following the story to the letter, but think about it; with a cousin and male cast added on, I'm already making a variation from the main story as is right? So my tale will be similar, but still different as you might imagine o.o. So I say, enjoy this story as it continues to come.

Changes from the anime:

I don't want everyone once more to think that I am going to butcher this decent tale as its going, but of course I am intending to have couples here; finally I am going to do something that will show my start towards that. I just ask you all to bear with some changes that I having in.

-More aggressive tendencies This stemming out to the Sailor Senshi and their general natures, I will not alter who they are; but I will have them take some more risks, maybe even be the pursuers in certain cases. The best example would be Makoto/Lita who would be the most bold of the inner senshi straight out asking one character she finds appealing out to dinner or something like that. You will find this differs amongst the girls as I do such a thing, I hope for it to be an interesting thing to introduce.

With all that done, shall we to the story?

(End A/N)

Chapter 7: Secrets Learned

A few beads of sweat drifted down his forehead as he ducked under the claws of the youma beast, bringing his foot forward; he jammed the end of his foot into the mid-section of the creature while he rolled backwards and came back to his feet with a single tonfa kept off to the side while he glared at the creature, this was getting more dangerous than he had figured to give it credit for.

"You're better than I thought beastie, but you're not my match and I don't want you thinkin' that." He said as he ducked off to the side, avoiding another swipe of the monster.

"You're going to be my next victim, you aren't going to stand in my way!" the youma didn't honestly seem to care; this strange boy had come out dressed in some old fashioned clothing; that made him more of a target than those she had been after.

As she attacked, she found that her claws were stopped by a second Tonfa, just before she felt the shot pass through her. "Ooaah..! How…?" was all she managed to blurt out, before she fell backwards, falling into a pile of ashes, having been destroyed by him…somehow; it was nothing that the youma would ever have known or seen.

"I had to resort to that being sick, it's alright…" he said as he coughed softly, he had finally managed to get Usagi to not go on hunts with him every time, though he had to make sure that she started working with the Sailor Senshi as they were her teammates, he was of a different group and while they had the same agenda; he knew that it wasn't wise for them to work together too often. He found that Luna was agreeing with him and that made things easier on him, so that he didn't feel as guilty.

(--Flashback--)

"So you see Luna, I can't keep going on with her…this is good for her training, but I am not the leader of our people; she is the one who must do what she will as a leader. My way is not her own, I can never be so gentle…as my sweet compassionate cousin." He knew that he was nice, but in battle he had a very direct mean streak sometimes. Things were obviously with him, never going to be a very pretty outcome when he got started; so he was going to ensure that he didn't let things pick up too dangerously, being kind to an enemy might well turn against someone and that was what he figured on.

"I agree with you entirely Prince, we must keep her acting as a leader or she might well grow to depend upon you too much and if she does; then she'll never think to act on her own decisions, she might well come to you for her answers or consult you too often." Luna's shock had since died down after finding out that he was the Prince, things were interesting with that factual thought, but not too difficult to keep level with; though she was surprised…where was his guardian?

"Please Luna, call me Keba…I am a prince perhaps, but I prefer being addressed as you do Usagi." He smiled, meaning it to be more personal and less proper, it would bother him otherwise.

‑­

And before Luna could respond, she'd feel him starting to pet along her back, stroking along her head and along her ear gently while she sat down on his bed.

"My guardian, Siele disappeared long before I learned of my powers…I don't know where she is, but I hope that she'll come back some time." Keba smiled at this, another wishful thought, was to be reunited with his old friend; Siele was a wonderful friend and guardian and yet she just kind of disappeared and always left him wondering; if she died or something else horrid?

Though he didn't let the thoughts remain to trap him in a memory of pain that he woefully avoided like the plague. He had no need for sorrow in his current life, he had a family to watch over and even more so now; duties as the warrior prince to follow.

"Remember Keba, don't push yourself too hard, you are not who you once were; as I know you are very proud and you follow your heart. Do not willfully send yourself into a descent of pain, as I know that Usagi couldn't bear to witness you hurting yourself because you wish to relive an old life; you have responsibilities both old and new with which you must face to the best of your ability. Don't let them take control of you." Luna's words were serious, she could already tell that he worked hard; but was also someone who would work tirelessly to improve situations.

"It's okay Luna, I will work only as hard as I must to help the situations before us; I know we have a lot of fight from the dark kingdom ahead of us. I will help Usagi, I too share a duty as a Moon Crown Prince to face the forces of darkness; I will destroy those who try to harm Usagi." He was easily serious and the look in his eyes sparked up, reminding him of the death he relived while he was asleep.

"But, Queen Beryl in her final battle…that will come down to not just you; but Usagi and her growth that she too must have, you are strong now my prince. But do not consume yourself with a need to protect Usagi, or she may never grow in the way that she needs to." Luna meant it, this was a point that he really needed to get.

Though his only answer to Luna was stroking the top of her head while he got into a serious mood here; he knew that he had to go train his powers. He finished his homework and did develop some free time, he was a master of school as it seemed so far; and he worked hard to be good at all he ever did.

"I will Luna, I promise you that I will." He said as he leaned down and nosed the cat's nose with his own, drawing back and smiling at her; he watched the blush spread along her cheeks and just scratched under her chin lightly before he rose and left.

Luna found him charming and shook her head, such a thing wasn't really ever right; she had to go ask her superior about Siele, his feline guardian hadn't died; as there was no record or signs of her loss during the great battle. There was simply a kind of outcome that she had no understanding of, That is what was known in such a case.

(--End Flashback--)

As Keba finished up, he knew that this didn't make things any easier in all, for that fact all this meant was that he was going to have to try and make things up as things went along; considering that he was only finished with patrol and now had to explain to Usagi why he was late to their agreed lunch plans. He rubbed his head, well he wasn't used to hanging out with her and her friends; she was going to be annoyed at him for missing lunch and he knew it.

Well he was trying to balance it now, keeping some things less secret from Usagi and yet still maintaining the important ones, it was a hell of a balance he had to try and manage at some cost to his mind being exercised hard by thinking up these many ways to do it. He loved his dear cousin Usagi, but it was hard enough to ensure that he never brought her over to his 'way' of doing things; his engaging of the Dark Kingdom behind the scenes of the Sailor Senshi's general battles against them was like the black ops trying to keep out of the way of the open military, while still leaving them appraised of the situation; not an easy task at all.

As Keba hurried down the street, he fixed his hair and hid his new scratch behind his hair, well obviously getting a bite on the neck from a monster wasn't pretty; it might also have Usagi believing he had a wild girlfriend or something…and that was no better for him really, he had no intention of letting it be so difficult and letting Usagi's wild imagination run off with her.

Finally he met up with Usagi and he knew things were going to take a turn to getting slightly messy, though in a less serious way.

"You're late Keba!" Usagi said as she looked up from her food, one of the few times she'd stop eating was to yell at Keba; she huffed and crossed her arms.

"Usagi-chan, I'm sorry that I was running late, I ran into some trouble with Toku; he lost his way going to an appointment." He said as he rubbed the side of his head, looking at her and bowing his head deeply.

Which was about half true, he did help his friend off to the appointment, though that was well an hour before the battle he had with that youma started; this particular one was surprisingly strong…strong enough that he had to use his kinji powers to destroy it. It was enough that he was considering picking up the spirit bow and training his shot; to make it better than just advanced as it was.

"It's okay Keba, come sit down here okay? I want you to not just introduce yourself, but have a meaningful conversation with my friends." Usagi said with a big smile there, she intended to play the love doctor; things were indeed going to be taking a kind of different turn if she had anything to do with it.

It did seem to Usagi that she herself wasn't with someone and yet it was okay, all she had to do was get a few things across to Keba first and make sure that he was with the right one of her friends.

"So um, how are all of you doing?" Keba knew that his opening question was a general one, but face it…he was never rightfully feeling about such a thing as approaching any of Usagi's guardians; he had always been so nervous and lost his coolness factor whenever he approached them. But of course he was going to take care here; he could maybe get to know each of them as individuals this way.

If things worked in his favor which he imagined that they would, just telling this by the fact he and Usagi had seemed to be on greater communication skills than they had over the first week that she knew he was a member of the Banshou.

He knew that she had been clingy the first week, but as she started to become a little more of a leader by watching him; he was making sure as best he could that she wasn't starting to follow and pick up all of his habits as a leader. He had to make sure in his own way that she was still herself; that meant still whiny, cute when she got upset, and even still a slacker when it came to doing homework.

As the small talk was picked up first by Makoto, whom he noticed was looking at him more intently of the girls; he tried to give each of them the proper attention, more like proper respect so as not to appear rude. He noticed how insistent Makoto was to ask him questions, though each one of the girls was inquisitive in their own way; he found that the particularly strong willed ones were Makoto, Minako, and Rei.

"So, do you have a girlfriend?" the question came from Makoto, who had been the chief inquisitor of his during the entire conversation; she was rather blunt wasn't she?

"Uh…no, I don't." he couldn't exactly lie, it wasn't like it would make a very big difference in the long run; he knew that Usagi would just say that he wasn't taken.

"Well then, what do you say to going out tomorrow night? About 7, after school and all of that is over." A smile formed on her face following her question to him; well he was available and was very mature as far as she could tell; he was likely game for her to chase after.

"Uh, sure…sure Makoto-san." He blushed at the direct invite, because he wasn't used to such aggressive pursuit of his company; so he dare not say no since was the first girl to ever ask him out.

"Call me Mako-chan." She smiled again, seeming to be glad that she at least netted him for the moment; she would get to see him one on one later.

Usagi was obviously very proud of this and thought it to be a success by inviting him here.

"Wonderful then! You show Mako-chan a good time Keba." She seemed to be ensuring that he would, even though she knew her cousin by his nature; he would be as good natured as he always was.

"Of course, I would do no less; though I apologize for having to go, it's time that I met with the Kendo team." He said as he looked at the time, it was 4 o'clock and that meant that things were getting close to the time; he had a meeting with the 'kendo team' today, which in his case was a majority of the Banshou members and the perfect cover for a meeting.

Though as he rose and bowed his head to the girls before leaving, he felt his hand grabbed gently as he was stopped by Mako-chan, he blushed as she spun him around; in a very dance-like motion that he obviously followed so as not to appear clumsy.

"No kiss?" she said with a light grin, something playfully said as she leaned to his cheek and kissed it lightly, before she drew back.

To which the effects were what she was looking for, she saw his face turn all shades of red and she thought he looked adorable in this sense.

"I-I'll see you…t-tomorrow Mako-chan." He knew he was stuttering since he was flustered, it was the first time that he was kissed on the cheek by someone that wasn't Usagi or his Aunt Ikuko.

"Yes, see you tomorrow and don't be late hmm? Or there will be a penalty to pay." She winked at him, obviously a little more playful flirting; just to make him more flustered which made her smile when she succeeded.

He gave her a quieted 'of course not' and then walked off, trying to appear that he was calm and almost not rushed to get out like he kind of was. He knew that he was in a kind of rush to fly almost; though he took care so as not to throw himself out of the doorway.

He did end up going into an alley and hopping the fence to save some time, about a good 10 minutes off of his walk with this shortcut, though this was going to be a hell of something to explain to the others; as to the reason why he was late now.

"I don't know just yet how I am going to explain this to the others; I hope no one questions me as to why I'm late." He said with a small sigh, they knew that he went to go have lunch with Usagi and the others; but this of course was their great leader being later for reasons more than just that.

Of course he thought of numerous kinds of reasons he might give in the end as he rushed off; trying to make sure that he wasn't going to be too late in getting there, he thankfully wasn't going to be more than about 2-3 minutes late due to his rushing. So he imagined he might get one of those quicker joking 'you're late' comments from one of the others being sticklers to tease or annoy him.

There was enough loose tension in the room however, as he noticed that Itani and Toku were in disagreement on something, he quickly interjected to stop the fussing and hopefully find out what's been going on for the past few minutes.

"Alright guys, break it down nice and easy; what's going on and why the argument? Especially from you two, I'd expect there to be a lot better communication; neither of you normally act this vicious to be blunt." Keba's comment seemed to make them back down from each other; they were in that same steady very tense, and took a moment to calm themselves.

"Keba, as it is Itani is a big follower of your orders and your closest friend, I know this since you two have always been closer and that is not an issue here. What I do find to be an issue, is that I wish to address you with a simple request; a serious one but very simple and he has a problem with it." Toku hit the nail on the head; he had made his point there when speaking up.

"That's just it; the request is something I am sure that won't be necessary since I have a solution to it already." Itani added at the end, he really did have something to suggest.

"Alright then; Toku first and then Itani, let me here both suggestion and solution." Keba may not have been the leader as he said, but he was still the negotiator and coordinator of the group; he's the one who kept everything in some good order whenever they broke out into a potential fight.

"Very well, the request is very simple Keba, that each of us focus in meditation and remember all of our memories. I for one don't clearly recall all of my fighting skills, I have a majority down and I've ever gone as far as self hypnosis to bring it out in me again; I have retained most of it. But facing this rising threat of the Dark Kingdom, I'll need all of it…the limits of my power that will bring me up to new heights; so that I might pass them as often as I did before." Toku was focused on growth, he was satisfied with his 'cover life' as he often called it, he lived it and acted normally as he would; but he was a blind guardian and to that he took the job very seriously.

"And a simple solution to that is having one of the guardians like Luna help you remember; I am sure she's skilled in the Lunar mirror, which helps one see who they once were and any memories that might be considered important will rise within you." Itani said it, and of course it was a very sound statement to consider; that she might have the answer to the whole thing as an issue.

And for a moment there was Keba in thought, trying to of course focus and make sure that he was considering all things fairly to the best of his thought; both options could be done and yet Itani's had been the most well thought out.

"Alright then, all jokes aside guys I have to say that I agree with Itani's decision, he seems to be in the most sound mindset of all while he's making this decision here; it might sound like favoritism but consider this okay? If we get Luna to help Toku's mind out, then this means that any of you who wish to try the same, can have the Lunar Mirror. And if she doesn't know the technique I can show her how it's done, Siele taught me how to do it." Keba spoke truthfully, well it was one of those things in childhood; a soft hymn to sing while thinking of a reflecting surface.

There was a few moments before the others seemed to agree, at 6 strong now the group was starting to work together; and now with them all in agreement it seemed there was another question on the floor to be brought to the front now.

"Well if Luna can generate a mirror, can't you as well? I have seen your symbol, your crescent moon appear whenever you're really in danger; while you gain the Banshou's powers in transformation, it appears that there is much more to you than even you know. I'd say you need this as badly as any of us do." Toku made yet another valid point.

"I don't know if I could generate one, but I will also give it a shot and see if it works for us." Keba said shortly afterwards, well he wanted it to be of use to them and to be sure that it wasn't going to simply flop back in his face as a failure.

"You are our leader, of that I have no doubt Keba; now you need only take your place with your powers re-awakened, do you understand? You must bring it all together yourself and use your heart; bring your force to light now; you are a Crown Prince, do you understand? We guard you; do not treat yourself as a commoner." Toku stated again, rather harshly that Keba stop trying so hard to just be 'normal' by standards.

There was another moment of silence from Keba, for obvious reasons those words did scratch deeply into him; he had purposely kept from tapping into his powers, both as a Kinji and a member of the Royal Moon Family so that he would have to depend on his Banshou powers.

"…Yes Toku, you're right I am your leader and I am more than just a mere foot soldier. I have been avoiding my powers because I wished to be your equal and a coordinator for our group…but we need leadership; I will step up…but understand one thing Toku; everyone. You will not react any differently to me, I am your leader and I understand that much. But **you all** understand this, I will not be some leader behind the frontlines, this is my job as much as any of you. We are defenders of the Senshi you understand? And so, I will do my job alongside you; period." He made this last thing a statemen; they had better understand just how serious Keba was.

There were no words to speak back against him for the time being, but likely there would be some later that Keba would have to answer to. However for right now, he seemed to understand his truest role and that he was ready to answer it.

Though with things as they were now, Keba had a date to worry about tomorrow as well as practicing the sacred technique, the Lunar Mirror.

(End Chapter)

Well I hope all of you enjoy this chapter, I will be awakening a lot more with the Banshou; things are going to get very interesting as the matter is addressed more in depth next chapter.

Until then adieu

-Quentix


	9. Chapter: Frustrations of a Princess, I

A/N: What else can be said eh? It's been such a long time since I'd even come forth with a chapter for this, I owe two just about! Anyhow, the ideas have been slow for this; so to make up for the last chapters I have two that I am working on. This will be the first and then a second chapter soon following this; bear with my since school has only been making things more difficult for me to deal with; but don't worry, I assure you that it's coming.

I think you may like this chapter, it will be the following up on the character mentioned 'Siele' which is obviously a play on the word seal, she is Keba's guardian and disappeared during the final battle; I may decide to go into it later if you all ask me too, so please review with the answer; at any rate here comes the new chapter, enjoy!

(End A/N)

--

Chapter 8: Frustrations of a Princess, Part I

Another battle having gone well for the Princess it seemed Usagi stood over the defeated form of ash that her tiara had just created. No doubt that she'd just defeated her next foe, something that made her smile on the way even more; she was proud of her improvements.

"I won't let you win, no matter what." She seemed to just be speaking in general; she was bothered by all of the fighting, it wasn't something she enjoyed very much…but Keba was still fighting and that was why she couldn't back down.

She was saddened by the fact she hadn't seen Keba outside of school very much, she instead had found her cousin's attendance was still perfect and yet he hadn't been anywhere to be seen when it came to combat. She asked him a few times and wasn't pleased with the answers; she found herself looking for more of a direct word out of him about it, but found herself getting less than what she was looking for out of it.

(Flashback)

"So Keba, can I ask why I haven't seen you? I mean…I've seen you maybe once or twice in the past week; am I not…strong enough?" obviously her cousin's carefully planned trips were during times when she was busy or had to sleep, he was avoiding her when it came to these trips when he promised to stay with her more often than not.

He immediately shook his head and came to her side, she'd find that he was looking for a response to give her and of course he was upset that he had pushed her in any such way.

"Keba, I know you're trying to protect me but I don't like you breaking a promise to me after you say we're going to fight alongside one another." She gave him a disappointed look and walked up to him, eyeing her fellow blond with skepticism; a look very rare to her if it ever came out of her at all.

He was speechless with the way she was reacting to him, he hadn't a word at all that could speak some kind of a word that would be something she'd want to hear; so he stopped thinking of excuses and just looked at her gently.

"Usagi…I was…I am trying to help you lead the Senshi." He said as he looked at her face, she'd find him just looking at her eyes and trying to tell the truth with those there.

"What…what are you talking about?" she frowned harder, trying to help her lead the Senshi?

"I mean that I'm trying to make sure you can rely on yourself…by not helping you and not working with you too often." He spilled the beans and he knew she wasn't happy; the way the pain became clear on her face.

"…" she said nothing but she turned away from him, he was trying to teach her to rely on herself? And all this time she was worried about him! How dare he!

"Usagi, I have no right to even talk to you right now; but…I don't want you to think I'd ever abandon you, I just wanted to see that you could look after yourself…so you don't need to fall back on me so often. I swear that's all I wanted for you; just that one ability that you could have and hold with ease." He put a hand on her shoulder, though expected her to shove him or jerk away.

But the younger blond didn't jerk away; instead she turned to him with tears glinting in her eyes like little jewels though not one single tear ever fell. She moved into her cousin's side and embraced her fully, squeezing his waist with her hold, not letting him go.

"I don't forgive you for this…but instead I'll do one better for us both, until I feel I'm ready…I won't go with you, don't worry about that." She said it bitterly, feeling hurt that she wasn't going out with him in the evenings…not to help him, but so he could watch her. She drew out of his hold and started back

"Usagi- W-wait…that's not what I'm trying to- please l-let me-!" It was too late, he exclaimed a wish to explain it to her and she ignored it.

She disappeared from view and into her room and that was that.

(End Flashback)

--

That had been one week ago and yet Usagi was still wounded by her cousin's implications, even though he told her that he didn't mean it that way; it was too late and so she took it that way…took it as a means to better herself for the sake he was speaking of.

She still loved her cousin and would have done anything for him even now, she talked to him and told him that she wasn't so bitter about it; instead now she had been concentrating much harder on her fighting skills, she'd taken up aerobics and seemed less like herself in late. She knew that her transformation gave her powers and yet that wasn't enough for her, she was even now in her room reading a book she got from the library on self-defense techniques. She knew that she wasn't going to be a master, but she was sure as hell not going to remain as weak as she was. Since that day she only thought about getting better at it, she…even did her home by goodness, but she wasn't speaking to Luna or Keba as much, she was focused more inward it seemed.

Of the way that it was going on, she decided to defeat her weakness; she couldn't be rid of who she was…and that wasn't what she wanted to end up in this way, she gave a soft smile at the thought of him being so sweet. Tonight was the night that she'd show her cousin just how much she'd grown in the past week. He still helped her study, but whenever he asked her about their 'work' it became clearer that she wasn't going to answer him or talk about it.

Of course there wasn't anything for her to think twice on, she had made her decision and of course by she was going to show Keba that she could protect him as he protected her and that there was no question of which of them would be able to do this proper. She'd force him to trust her and who she was by proving herself in battle.

--Later that Night—

Keba wasn't able to concentrate very well, all he knew that Usagi had told him that it was okay and she'd eventually talk to him about what they were doing; his aim now was to get in a battle with the forces of the Dark Kingdom, he wanted to blow some frustration out on them and this was a fine way to do so.

Of course given that he'd pissed them off a great deal in late, he had thwarted several plans of theirs personally and defeated Jadeite in battle. While not destroyed the Shitennou General, he did defeat him and sent him packing with great wounds.

Another monster was to be sent out, that was what he was hoping for in this case…if only he'd taken a guess as to what was coming his way, he might not have been hoping for battle so much. Nothing would prepare him for what he was facing now…

"Tsume…my Prince." Her words coming from her lips shortly after she appeared, with no sound…the silver haired feline had stalked towards him; there the look on her face was pleasantly amused.

This couldn't be…this wasn't her…she was not here, how could she be? She disappeared so long ago, before the battle was lost on the moon…he lost who she was; he couldn't believe that such a thing was even possible, she was presumed dead and he was forced to leave her for dead; yet…here she was.

"Tsume, you have changed…you must have been reborn, you look well…so handsome." She said as she led her fingers to trail along his cheek, no doubt this was the human form she had shown to him when they were children.

She was the only one who ever called him by his first name, this was one of those things that made his heart wrench; he hadn't even transformed…something wasn't right and he knew it instinctively.

"It's okay…that you left me to die...I forgive you." Her words sounded off with malice as she drove her claw into his ribs, leaning in to smile at his face; she curled her arm around his waist and drew him into her form.

His body was fast to draw back from her body, while he angled a kick for her ribs; to try and get escape her embrace. His eyes flooding with tears of his pain, not from the feeling of her claws digging into his flesh as he was; just the way that her claws were burrowing into his flesh deeper, he shoved her off and tumbled backwards.

"Now you've gone and hurt my feelings…I used to hold you so often, we used to cuddle a lot too. What happened to you then? You became obsessed with your own cousin; you began to ignore me whenever she came by." She looked at him with venom in her eyes, was this really what she believed?

Keba rose from the ground and shook his head, leaping back and frowning harder…what the hell was this? What kind of reunion was this? He couldn't accept and yet he had no real choice in that matter, he was going to have to accept this as it came and he wished to avoid it at all costs.

Without another word he turned and quickly fled from the site of battle, leaping onto the lunar particles that his mind placed together and immediately taking off at high speeds. Using this high speed 'sliding' skill of the Kinji he aimed to escape this nerve racking moment and come back with a clear head.

But Siele looked at him and pursed her lips in a soft smile, then a sinister smirk evolved from the small based smile that had formed there. He was trying to escape as expected, but did he think she'd let him go? There was no chance of that happening, she found her prince again and she'd bring him to see the truth as the Dark Kingdom had made clear for her a short time ago.

"Oh no my Prince, you're not leaving me alone again!" her voice came from above as she pounced onto him despite the high pace with which he fled her with, to her it wasn't enough to escape her new powers.

As she took him down, those same particles matted the ground and stopped Keba from taking any damage; it was instinct to make sure that he didn't suffer any damage while Siele rode him to a stop, her foot resting on his chest while her hand was stroking through his long platinum blond locks.

For a matter of the moment it seemed that she was proving something to him, she wasn't as weak as she was so long ago, quite the contrary her strength was picking up by the very second. Soon however Siele decided to sit upon his chest to keep him still while she spoke to him, her fingers messing with his hair.

"I'm going to bring you to the light my Prince, loving your cousin the way you do is a sin. I will do my right lesson as your guardian to keep you on a path headed for prosperity. But first, you need to join the Dark Kingdom in order to find your truth my Prince." She mused over this fact and watched him struggle to rise.

Her fingers tapped his forehead while she looked into his eyes and did her best to hypnotize him, and so she pushed his forehead with two dark glowing fingertips, forcing the Moon royal family crest to form upon his forehead. She was carefully going to implant the 'will and knowledge of the Dark Kingdom' within him as a measure to make him better understand her words.

"Siele why…? Why are you doing this? Don't you remember that you'd support me no matter what? You know that I love Usagi as only a brother would, it's not like that! Not the way that you are claiming." It was true, his heart belonged to another and while he doubted the way that she knew herself; the special girl in mind was close to Usagi.

He always knew that Siele had always harbored feelings of tenderness for him and maybe even passion, but he never once considered it much to her dismay, he was never sure why he didn't; but as sweet as she was he just couldn't…he knew that it wasn't the kind of relationship he wanted. Better yet in mind, he knew that she knew it wouldn't work either.

"I feel as I never have for you before my Prince…that's why, you react with such scorn as you reject me, so I will bring you to a peace and understanding of my feelings by-" she was stopped short by the look in his eyes, filled with sadness and more pain.

"By…forcing me to live and feel for you under the will of someone else's? Siele…I can forgive you, I have always loved you…you're in my heart, you know that. But should this happen…and ever that I am freed or escape it myself, I don't know that my heart would allow me to accept you or trust you again." He told her that which was a truth to him, something that was far more serious than the scuffle they were having now.

She froze up and became very hesitant in her actions. She looked at his face and she knew that he was speaking the truth, her eyes showed a great battle that was being undertaken. Her eyes welled up with tears as she lost all control of her body, her form violently seizing up before she collapsed off to the side of Keba.

"P-Prince…my Prince, forgive me…" these words were her last before she fainted, her body half curled into a fetal position as her human form gave way; returning to her original feline form bearing the color of a soft sky blue shade.

For some few minutes there had been no response from either of them, Keba was still staring up at the sky and trying to think; what the hell was this exactly? Why was he suddenly the one to suffer and to be left feeling this way? Did he really have no answer to respond to this situation? His mind stopped working for a minute and he went to auto-pilot quickly.

He was no longer thinking of anything but surviving and what to do next…he swept Siele into his arms and brought her against his chest.

"Let's go home." He said as he leapt into the air, disappearing in the shade of lunar energy which formed at the base of his feet; the force that drove the Kinji powers being summoned and used for his own means of transportation. He was taking her right back to the home he shared with Usagi and her family while he was going to school here, it wasn't going to be something he was going to let hang on or bother him too much.

There was no need to think so hard about one thing, school was long since over and he was bringing her with him, hopefully Aunt Ikuko wouldn't have a big problem with it. It was all that he was hoping would come into place, because either he'd sneak her in or she'd respond with something positive that he needed to hear.

--Back at the Tsukino Residence—

"Keba, what's wrong? Oh…that poor cat, is the dear okay? What happened to her?" she said as she looked concerned at the feline in his arms.

"I don't totally know Aunt Ikuko, I found her on the ground and she had just collapse. She was so adorable and looked vulnerable, so I didn't want to just leave her there." He rubbed the side of Siele's ear while he looked at his Aunt for an answer with his eyes.

There was only another moment while his aunt rubbed the cat's side and seemed to be deciding on whether she'd allow the cat to stay, but with such a big heart that she had; it wasn't much of a question as to whether she'd be allowed to stay or not.

"Please come right in, won't you? Bring your friend into the room, I will allow your friend to stay for a while." She said with a soft smile.

She led him to the kitchen and instructed him to lay the cat in a basket with a pillow that she had around, there letting her fingers stroke over the top of the feline's head slowly.

"Go on dear, I'll take care of her, you look exhausted and like you've shed some tears over this cat already. Its okay sweetie she'll be fine, leave her care to me and you can come to see her later alright? I'll take care of her and you rest now." These words spoken softly of course, it left her with something of a gentle smile.

He gave his aunt a nod and then kissed her cheek while he leaned against her, no doubt as he held himself against her side; she'd find her nephew was truly distraught at a point, bothered by what was going on. However he let her go and moved off to go on his own, heading to his room shortly after the next moment.

Keba brought himself up stairs and let his body rest against the bed shortly afterwards, as he fell over onto the soft cushioning feeling of his bed, as things went on his mind became vastly more clear.

"She was taken from me and yet now she returns to me like this, nothing is clear for me to understand anymore…how can I lead another..?" he said as he stared into the bed's surface, frowning hard at what reality of his…was now shattered.

All he could do was relax and lean into the bed gently, while resting this was the only thing that he could offer to himself, maybe sleep would clear his mind.

(End part 1)


	10. Chapter: Frustrations of a Princess, II

A/N: It's been a while, I should never have left as the saying goes; there are many ways to describe the words of the moment and yet I will make this brief. I missed writing this fic, though I had been dealing with loads of crap over the summer and now have the time while I'm back at college. Nice and strange isn't that? Well not to worry, I'll make it all worth the wait to those who read this fic. I'm coming back with a vengeance this chapter; I'll more than make it worth the time to read. That's a promise and so without any word, here comes the new work.

(End A/N)

--

Chapter 9: Frustrations of a Princess, Part II

Usagi's training wasn't taking a break; in fact she seemed to be a little too focused on trying to make sure she'd be able to impress her cousin than anything else. Usagi's focus at her school work became flawless, a new kind of focus that had her grades regularly remarking high now, rivaling Keba's own general grade of studying and work. Her mother was impressed by this sudden change in her daughter's school career. The young blond was up most mornings studying before a test and was up without having to be awakened by Keba, mother, or father.

But in turn she'd also been going out as Sailor Moon more often than not, whenever she was not studying or doing homework, she was fighting the Dark Kingdom fiercely, with a new determination to prove something to not only herself, but also to Keba as well. She could not let the matter rest; those words from still two weeks ago had hurt more than he knew. She wanted to prove him wrong…even though she knew he never meant to insult her, she wanted him to know that she only wanted to be at his side; as they were more commonly this days as much a brother and sister, as her brother Shingo was a brother to her.

She was not a weak link to anyone as was her most potent point to prove, all of this focus was worrying Luna on another manner.

"Usagi-san, stop for a minute to rest…you've been training so hard, I never thought that I'd say that, you haven't taken enough time to rest at all. Your sleep, while it's not wearing you away yet, I know you've needed to sleep more and yet you've been neglecting it." Luna was trying to address the matter as best as she could.

But she simply pet Luna on the head and looked at her sweet eyes, those eyes full of concern and smiled at her.

"Oh Luna…I know…but I can't stop now, I've just started getting so good, I can control my Tiara I found with my powers, I can make this work so well. Keba will let me stay by his side and we can fight the Dark Kingdom together." She seemed to be so focused on just that.

Luna sighed and looked at Usagi's condition feeling a little helpless as this seemed to be something very much against her, she couldn't hardly believe that she couldn't bring Usagi back to well…her old fashioned self, she was so focused on trying to impress his her cousin; who also shared Luna's worries about Usagi's lack of sleep.

While as a whole, Usagi had found and awakened Sailor Venus finally, she had her guardians and she had her soul finally so complete with the company that now surrounded her; those that were her friends, her compatriots in battle. She felt that she had become more of a leader for them and wanted to make it something that would be so true. It was all that she was trying to become more of a fight for herself; she was not just a cry baby.

"Moon Prism Power, Make Up!" she knew it now by having honed her skills whenever danger was around, she knew that there was a dark power nearby.

Her transformation was being monitored by Jadeite, who was trying to see what could be done about this new menace. It wasn't just the Moon Princess that they had to worry about, but it appeared that this Banshou group was causing an overall problem for his soldiers and the Dark Kingdom; he wasn't going to let this happen, his Queen would only give him one more chance that was all he needed to know, he would not fail her again.

As she engaged the new monster, Usagi performed several moves of hers that were seen at one time or another, but never on such a regular occasion. She struck with conviction to her duties as a Princess and a guardian to the Earth; she had a duty and she was going to make this count.

"Sailor Moon Kick!" she yelled as she kicked the monster in the back, shooting it forward to the ground before she leapt into the air and took hold of her tiara.

"Moon Tiara Action!" she immediately followed her kick attack with the deciding factor, which as the disc struck the monster had turned it into ashes before returning to her hands and leaving her with a feeling of accomplishment.

She had done it again and managed to defeat another monster without any help, she was getting better at this and that was the main point for her, since she hoped that Keba would consider her good enough soon.

Though she felt that she wasn't alone and felt a kind of presence nearby her, and while not exactly upon her, it was with strength that made her quiver inside; not a kind of feeling that she wanted to feel after just winning one of her few battles solo.

"So…you are Sailor Moon, I can see why my soldiers have such a problem dealing with you, but no matter; as I will end this now and today, for you face me…and you have no chance of defeating me with such a weak attack." Jadeite's smirk cast arrogantly over his face as he brushed those blond locks from his view.

He watched the proud Senshi step forward and gaze at him with a look that defied what he'd heard in the past. This girl was bold, that look spoke of her confidence and her determination, and what about what he'd heard from some of his soldiers that had been vanquished, such words spoken about her weakness and how the appearance of that annoying Tuxedo Kamen and a second warrior of the moon he'd been told. It was in that situation that she grew bolder or stronger he'd heard.

She didn't answer with words and instead seemed to be focusing her energies towards something else, she was trying to think…she was no Mercury, but she could think for herself and this was what she was doing, focusing hard as she prepared to dash.

'I can…I can feel this dark power from him, he isn't just boasting…I think I can beat him, but not like this.' When had she become so strategic? She wasn't even sure of that she could stop him without any real focus and she knew that she couldn't hesitate any, she couldn't afford it.

There was only a sneer on his face since she made no actions; he made the first move with a big smirk that was growing on the fact that she had nothing to offer towards this battle.

"Time to end this little girl." He raised his hand and fired a blast of dark energy her way, there the swirling orb aimed to end this quickly.

She leapt back into the air and managed to avoid the shot of darkness and for a moment she had him.

"Moon Tiara…Action!" she launched her aimed shot from the air, the angle was a bit off but she was sure the spread of the tiara would strike him.

For the moment it seemed that it would work, Jadeite was visibly stunned by the display and for a moment he feared that disc of radiating light. However as it neared him, he met it with an elevated palm and a barrier of radiating darkness that immediately clashed with the aura around the tiara, this was not going to stop him now or here, not when his Queen needed him to gain the darkness, she charged him with this duty and he would not fail!

This little girl would not stop him, he immediately raised the energy and blew the tiara away from his body without another moment's thought, his will to force this girl into her place, to claim the energy that his Queen was after; in order to seal the fate of these senshi he would take that power from these pathetic humans.

"Weakness is not to be tolerated!" he snarled at her, expanding the aura and forcing it to hammer her form, shooting her backwards in the air as he stood and pointed at her. "Your weakness will be your undoing; you cannot hope to win alone." His laugh followed until a blade cut along his side violently.

All Jadeite could do was remain in awe from the blow that sent him sprawling onto the ground with a wound that he had once expected.

Before Usagi hit the ground she found herself in the arms of someone she had yet to identify, she was held with a tenderness that made her blush; was it her beloved Tuxedo Kamen?

"She's not alone moron, that's what got you sliced just now, your own stupidity." The voice belonged to Keba, who was transformed and on scene, he hadn't known what was going on until he arrived on scene some moments ago.

He wanted to say something, but couldn't, instead he just held the bladed tonfa in hand and glare at the downed Jadeite. Before leaping into the air and disappearing from the naked eye, using a Kinji movement technique in order to leave unseen with Usagi unharmed; he couldn't help but feel guilty for the words that lead her down this path.

At first she said nothing when she noticed who it was, she was thankful yes…her eyes even reflected that so, she looked at him softly and then hugged him closer, burying her face in his shoulders as the tears began to fall, she wanted to tell him so much, including what she was feeling, but there was enough going on right now.

"Usagi, I wanted you to know how truly sorry I am for what I said before. I didn't mean for it to come out that way, honestly I…I don't want you to think that I ever considered you someone holding me back, I mean I should address this how I meant it." He hugged her back and sat her down on the edge of the roof that they were currently on.

She looked at him, waiting to hear what he was trying to tell her, so heartfelt a sorry made her feel a little silly for taking things as far as she did, since she hadn't expected him to take it so hard.

"I wanted to be with you, in combat and out of it really, but…I guess I worried that I might be distracting you from your new duties as the leader of the Senshi, we both have roles alongside each other Usagi, I love you and only want to see your growth as a leader is unhindered by me; I promise you that's all I ever meant." He got it off his chest finally.

He hadn't even taken the time to see her reaction at first, he just shut his eyes and sighed in a manner of relief, he felt vindicated by telling the thing eating at him over such a long period of time, a whole week of not being able to clarify why he even mentioned that that night last week.

She was smiling at him and looking a little relieved herself, though still she knew she had to tell him her side of the story as well, after all there was no need to be mad over something so small right?

"Keba, I wanted to tell you how sorry I am for this too, I mean…I-I let it get out of hand, making you think I was so mad." She looked down as she felt just as guilty as he probably did; she had a hand in making him worry and she knew it.

Her gaze went to her cousin's face and she couldn't help but hug him tightly and while doing so also took a deep breath, it was time to tell him everything that had been on her mind since last week. Though he thought he was the cause of it, in honesty he had only stirred the thoughts and the rest was really her doing.

She made sure that she covered the course of all last week, how each day that she took up training and studying harder over this whole period; reforming herself for her own sake really. She told him of her frustrations and how she remembered those thoughts, the same nights ending with his death and how much it affected her so hard. She worked on her skills with Luna overseeing and on her own whenever Luna hadn't been around. She focused so hard and was even neglecting sleep so that she had more time for it.

The two of them spent about the next hour clearing things up and even talking about some plans that made it all sound easier and how perhaps they'd be able to train together; Keba told her how the Banshou did not like his involvement with her life, the way that they believed he had already changed the way of things. Usagi was just as compassionate as she'd ever been but more focused and he knew that she was so in touch with her heart and knew what she wanted most of all.

"That's not fair you know Keba? I mean the way that they want to act; they really want to get mad just because you and I are working together more? Hmm, I'll have to show them that I understand that I am the Princess, it seems that they need a reminder of who they are as well." She was sure that it was also because Keba was trying to be democratic about the discussions; she was almost too sure that he was being too loose about decisions that he was one to be making.

She took Keba's hand and helped him up while she looked at his face with a sweet smile, helping her cousin rise while she looked at his face and embraced him again. And there in the moonlight there was a sudden focus on the moonlight upon the two of them, for the moment that Keba felt Usagi rest her head on his shoulder; he just rubbed her back and held her close.

Unknown to the two cousins was the power of the bond they shared and the reflection of it showing in the soft moonlight shining of the two, for a moment the royal crest appeared upon the two reborn silver millennium royal family; vaguely reminiscent of a past that was far behind them and only in memories that the two of them now shared.

The night ended without much more in words, as once Keba got them both home, they gave the excuse of studying late at the library and then retreated to bed as another day was now done.

--The new day-

As the next morning came Keba found the sun seemed to shine that much brighter today as he looked outward as the beautiful sky before him, all he could do was enjoy the warmth that was present; opening his eyes and looking up at the sun as if something from the light had jumped right into his heart. The day felt strange already, but he wasn't sure what it meant yet.

"Usagi! Keba! Breakfast is ready!" his aunt Ikuko's melodic voice called to them both from downstairs, he got out of bed and stretched his body lightly, doing some light movements to loosen up his body before heading to the bathroom to awaken himself and prepare for the day.

After a short time preparing for school, Keba was downstairs and surprisingly Usagi emerged a short time after he did and greeted her cousin with a tight hug before she moved into the kitchen; in a very good mood and somewhat bouncy to the surprise of her mother and father.

Ikuko smiled at her daughter's happiness as she seemed to be reflecting more of what was her daughter's normal happy-go-lucky attitude about things.

"It's so nice to see that you and Usagi aren't quarreling anymore Keba, honestly I was hoping that whatever it was you two might move past it; you two are honestly so close I was hoping this might be forgotten in time." She was just stating of course what was on her mind.

Usagi smiled at her mother's words and then hugged Keba once more before she looked at her father and then her brother Shingo with a little happy sigh coming from her. No words on the matter, instead just a nice change of the original attitude and a change that showed Usagi feeling better about things as they came to pass, it was a question about how she would react at some times.

There was never a steady way to be sure that Usagi would remain in a good mood as these passed or so the word went on the subject. Breakfast went over pretty smoothly with Usagi eating every bit of her food and then looking at the time and grabbing her bag before moving to door and waiting for Keba to get up.

"Good bye Mom! Good Bye Dad! Love you both, me and Keba have to go or we'll be late!" she called out as Keba was rising from his chair and gave his aunt Ikuko a kiss on the cheek and there a light hug to his Uncle before moving off beside Usagi's side and taking her hand; it was indeed well reflective of the past for them both, to see that they were both in a good mood.

Keba was glad that Usagi seemed to be exploding in happiness on some level, she was really reacting more to the warmth of the day and seemed so happy, the way she was skipping and even maintaining her balance while she led him to school.

He let her take him since she seemed to be so adamant about keeping him by her side today, even as Naru came to meet up with them, she made sure that Keba stayed with them and maintained a good pace; he was amused by this to a degree.

Well this was the way that he remembered things in the dreams he had, Serenity was always leading Tsume off somewhere and they'd go hand in hand, almost as if truly brother and sister it was a very nice feeling to embrace. That was just the best thing about spending time with Usagi, it was most certainly when she was in this good mood just like this; however he did have to admit to being curious enough to ask one thing and that was what brought this radiant mood on?

Though Usagi had yet to say anything all that was sure was that she was seeing better days since Keba had explained away what he'd meant the last week and she got off what was so heavy a burden on her chest. It just felt good not to be quarreling with him over something so small and menial.

She beamed at her ability to pay attention in class, all of that 'weekly training' that she gave herself on focus and studying…well at least the focus was still in effect. She didn't know so much about the studying habits, maybe she'd retain some of it; at least if it meant Keba would help her with some of the studying, well then she'd enjoy that. Her biggest focus now was probably just testing how things were going between Makoto and Keba, since they had been dating about a week now, and he surely was showing no problems with her; aside from him being worried about her, Keba really hadn't said anything to her about how they were doing; though silly her…she hadn't even asked!

It wasn't all that bad since she'd be seeing them both at lunchtime, she knew they had P.E. together and this meant that she would be seeing them about the same time they were leaving and she was going in for her P.E., this just before they all ate lunch and that was when she'd find out. She decided that would be the perfect time to check out how they were doing.

--With Makoto—

In fact things had been doing so well between her and Keba she found herself to be steadily focused by this sheer fact alone, while school work never gave her problems since she went to Ami with any of the said problems on hand, she found things with Keba smoothed everything out for her. It was more the fact that he made her so happy…in this own strange way since she'd discovered him and started going out with him at least twice a week, it was easy to maintain a happy mood and thus everything just seemed to fly straight by, leaving her with nothing but a growing soft spot for him in her heart since then.

Even now as the P.E. class came to an end, she found herself looking forward to lunch, since she would see that adorable radiant face of his then, indeed he was a rare gift she found and he was almost intuitive sometimes at her emotions.

He wasn't overdoing anything at the moment, just making sure that he was doing what was expected of one student in P.E., some physical exertions, it was pretty good for the most part; he found the duties enjoyed and that life was currently all he hoped it to be; simple and actually quite fun. Though the real test he imagined would be at lunch time, could he balance time with Makoto, his life as a Banshou, school, time with Usagi: both as a senshi of the moon and a cousin? It was all quite…challenging, he found that it would be rough, but he rather enjoyed it all still.

Those were some of his very words that he mentioned, he was always thinking about others and how life would get along with things; even though the life of a senshi wasn't the easiest thing to cope with, Makoto found herself doing her best and never once backing down from the challenges.

"Finally an end to class." She found herself a bit eager to leave class and her thoughts with them as it was time for lunch and one of the few times that she enjoyed that were freedom of a kind, what she would be doing today? Showing Keba the lunch that she made for the two of them to share.

She had worked extra hard to keep the food during the week varying and found herself rewarded with his truth and usual gentle gaze that spoke volumes of how the food made him feel. She found a full range of emotions in them and his responses were always truthful; as he said before in a way she liked to think back to often.

'If lies had any true place in the word then they would not hurt so much when a person finds them untrue, and so with that point it shows no purpose to lie.' It was his reasoning for never lying and she admired it.

Being honest was good for the soul and something she herself followed as well, she would never hold back the truth; even if it were painful something that needed to be shared would.

She went off to dress back in her regular clothes; yes she could really grow to adore lunch more than she normally did. She found that it brightened up her day to know that Keba would be there along with her friends; finally a boy that did not feel intimidated by her, well at least in a bad way at least, he seemed to enjoy her company at any rate.

--At Lunch—

Usagi was where she found herself happiest now, a place where she could eat and freely enjoy a time where she wasn't going to get trouble for sleeping or just enjoying her time at being lazy. She could eat and enjoy the company of friends and family in this case, something she loved normally.

She already knew where they normally met outside, under the great tree that shaded them during times of spring and times before summer was starting. Even though it was starting to get a bit chillier, still a haven from the sun was not unwelcome and she was already first there under the tree; she often competed with everyone else to be there; well unknowingly did they all compete, she enjoyed the chance at the best spot before the large root of the tree.

"Ahh, Happy Noon eh Usagi?" Keba's voice sounded happy, as he came to join his fellow blond beneath the tree as he sat down and bowed his head in polite greeting, it was just observing manners; as that was something he often enjoyed doing.

"Keba-kun!" she answered in a ways he normally did, with a loving hug and a kind of happy sigh that only came within his company; there were people in her life that made her feel special, her family at home, her friends, her beloved Tuxedo Kamen, and then there was Keba…the only different kind of love she felt that seemed to have no depth.

She was never satisfied just seeing him once, was it because they were both reborn royalty of the Silver Millennium? She had not been able to touch the thought really, all she found is that she adored his company and feared for his safety, this was a connection that she had with close family; yes he was like the older brother who watched out for her so often.

While Usagi was in her thoughts, the embrace finally came to pass, once she felt worlds better and emerged from her trance. There was little more to pass her mind, she was gazing at Keba's gentle eyes and she let herself smile; he was so mindful of others and less to himself, she found that an endearing trait of her sweet cousin, a shining example of a knight…much like her beloved Tuxedo Kamen.

"Keba-kun, there you are~" Makoto's cheery tone seemed to break the mood of thought for Usagi, while Keba greeted Makoto with a hug and a peck on the cheek.

She thought they were adorable really, even though Keba was the pursued in such a case, he was still being extra attentive and making sure that Mako-chan was enjoying herself; she was so lucky! Usagi couldn't help but feel envious that one of her best friends and allies in battle was so lucky so have someone as nice and gentle as her cousin. It was wonderful…maybe Tuxedo Kamen would treat to a happy time like this? If only she knew who he truly was, not just some midnight savior…the one who saved her from her first few scary times as Sailor Moon; he was as valiant as Keba, but in a totally different regard she found; her admiration for Keba was almost dead even as her wonder about the mysterious Tuxedo Kamen.

"Here you got Mako-chan." He said as he held out a small case in her direction, what was this?

A gift so soon, oh he was too precious! She was already giddy and wondered just what it was that he had for her, they'd only been going out a week and a half and he was being so thoughtful already? It was really sweet and she found that she really liked it.

Keba soon handed her a small case that he had opened for her and looked at her face for the surprise when she'd see that it was clearly a small necklace, a keepsake made of a glistening silver with a moonstone in the center of it. Such a thing was a gift he selected specifically for Makoto, he was sure that she would love it and to his guess he was right.

"Keba, its beautiful!" she grabbed him into a tight hug, still caught in the surprise of the moment while she held onto him for the minute, just still her mind a little shocked by just what kind of a gift that he gave her…oh why did he have to be so sweet?

She felt tears coming to her eyes and almost too quickly had they spread throughout her eyes and she rested her head on his shoulder while her eyes shut, they were only tears of happiness at such a sweet gesture; she never expected it.

"Oooh I'm jealous, that's so cute!" Usagi giggled at the scene and gave her cousin a soft rub on his back from Usagi, it was just that he was far too cute for his own good.

----In the Dark Kingdom--

"You've failed me for the last time Jadeite, perhaps I should get someone with more skill to take care of this annoyance." Queen Beryl said, less than impressed with his reasoning for why he not only lost but was wounded as well.

He looked at his queen and then decided that now it was time for him to tell her just how serious he was about his position here and just what that meant to him, he was going to stake everything on the line if she let him.

"If I may my Queen, if you give me one more chance not only will I earn you the energy to awaken Queen Metalia, but I will also capture this mysterious warrior who had stopped me from capturing this princess." He said as he bowed his head, in truth he wanted his revenge; no one ever harmed him in such a way, and now he wasn't about to start by letting this fool get away with it now.

At first she said nothing but the look on her face seemed describe her interest in this matter, was this the youth that her Queen had described in the past? The young man who dared to face off with the leader of the Dark Kingdom in some useless attempt to stay off her attack on the castle? She was indeed intrigued, but this then meant that he was one that was meant for her Queen to deal with as well and she would not have this.

"…Fine then Jadeite, you have one last chance to gather the energy and the second is to draw this fighter out and then…I will deal with him." She would be the one to put a quick end to this and not allow anyone to get in the way of the Dark Kingdom, after all…if this fighter could wound Jadeite and nearly destroy him with such an attack; then this was nothing to pass up on destroying as a power opposing them.

Queen Beryl had her plans and whether Jadeite succeeded or not did not really matter, if he got the energy she might spare him or not; but this fighter had to be stopped and she knew there was no way she could leave this to Jadeite or any other of the Shitennou to this.

As her memories came upon her, she smiled sadistically at the thought that came to mind, who was dashing enough to face off against her Queen and actually believe he stood a chance?

"Maybe…my Queen would like your capture, Prince Tsume…" she said it as she realized someone powerful to defeat Jadeite was no ordinary fighter or even a Senshi, nay…only one being as powerful as the Moon Princess herself or who ranked close; she knew it to be the Crown Warrior Prince himself.

(End Chapter)

Well I hope you enjoyed this chapter, more to come and soon!

Tell me what you think of the pairing I have in mind? Yay or nay? Any feedback would be awesome, I may let it interest the next chapter or even who you might prefer me to put together with Prince Tsume/Keba or even if you just have another pairing?

Till then adieu

-Quentix


	11. Chapter: Seduction of the Dark Kingdom

A/N: It's been some time since I wrote for this fic but I am back in the groove! It took a while but I am finally coming around to this fic after having updated some of my more popular stories; so forgive me to anyone who wanted to this read this latest chapter. I haven't forgotten about this fic I promise! It's just another of my many stories that I am writing at once. (Not the wisest thing I assure you xD) I undertook so much at once that finishing so many up at once is definitely a challenge.

But without further adieu here I go, into the next exciting chapter of Keba's Chronicles!

(End A/N)

--

Chapter 10: Seduction of the Dark Kingdom, A future strife set

As if Keba's making his presence known could do just as he imagined, creating only more trouble for him. He had hoped that Queen Metalia's stand-in had forgotten him over the period of being frozen away, but as the actions of the Dark Kingdom's movements showed him, this was hardly the case. Sooner than he knew it before Keba was under the focus of the Kingdom's new youma attacks. He had been conducting the Banshou missions as best he could while under the direct pressure of the Dark Kingdom, though as things were presenting them he was being left to stretch himself a little too far. And this had only been the beginning of his troubles, as if it weren't bad enough he was having trouble getting to sleep on some nights.

The platinum blond found his mind blurred as he awakened in the bed in a cold sweat, trying to overcome the demons that had started to haunt him. Many of those from his past and the focus typically on one thing: his demise. He wasn't able to put it to any sleep; what could've been keeping him so busy or so distracted? He tried to place the images that he'd seen while in the world of dreams and very simply he found himself remembering his own death with great clarity. Time after time his mind would always come back to the same thoughts that it had the first time through; his final moments in Serenity's arms before he felt her stricken down.

"Why…can't I sleep?" he asked himself as he slid his fingers back through his hair at the next moment, there was just nothing clear that he could focus on. He moved to the open window and looked up at the sky, the moon had been covered in clouds just like his mind.

While he'd been unable to sleep the past few nights, he hadn't known whether his cousin was sharing these stresses of sleep. And it was only the sweet voice of Usagi that brought him to turn and see that she was herself awake in the deadness of the night.

"Keba? What's wrong..?" her voice sleepy, but her words full of concern. Her worry for his well being never appearing to have an ending, she wandered into his room and joined him at the windowsill as she sat at his side. There her arms wrapped around his midsection from the side, while she laid her head over his shoulder and didn't wait for a response out of him.

Keba had no words to speak in an answer to his cousin's sweet words since he felt at peace. From the moment that she had touched him had his heart calmed, her delicate healing touch had settled any troubles that he'd had in the moments before. There she was in that moment, the gorgeous Serenity embracing Tsume as he lay by the Serene lake in open.

"Keba..?" her words came to him since his body went lax and all tension left him. She was genuinely more curious by his sudden moment of relaxing in her arms, what was it that was going on in his mind?

"Hmm…? Oh…sorry Usagi, I'm alright now." He said with a smile as he looked at her, hiding nothing behind his placid glance over his shoulder.

She made a face for a moment and then kissed his cheek; he was a silly boy sometimes when he wasn't serious. She found that she preferred him this way to the seriousness that often bothered her from time to time. But she still wanted to know what was bothering him before, so she pressed the question from before.

"Okay then, what was wrong? You looked so bothered, come on…and don't lie please…" she said this with a look that almost threatened tears, his evading the purest forms of the truth may as well have been a lie. She knew that he'd never actually lied to her face as much as he evaded the facts she was looking for.

She gave him another look, one of a half pout that would keep him from even responding to her comments. As she hoped it would, it shut his mouth since he stopped a retort halfway; oh yes she did know her cousin better than he thought likely.

"Alright Usagi you win, I'll cut to the chase alright? It's just my mind is out of focus and I'm thinking of those last moments in the past…my death in your arms. Something about it is haunting me that even I cannot say." He knew this would get on her case, simply he knew that she'd be upset.

However, she didn't respond the way that he may have thought initially. She did frown but she shook her head rapidly a few times and clutched his waist tighter, holding him closer as she was clearly stating something with her hold on him. He was never leaving her again, ever again.

"It doesn't matter, stop right there and let me…say this for you." She said as she leaned over his shoulder, resting her cheek against his tenderly and shutting her eyes gently.

He nodded gently and leaned into her hold as she hugged him close, at this point he was able to feel a ring of comfort around him; was it her thoughts that were bringing this forth? No…this was her will and it was an astonishing moment indeed, her energies though gentle had surged to a point surpassing his own; as he knew they should.

"You need not fear such a moment again Keba, since…I will always be here to protect you, we can depend on each other." Her words were soft spoken, but her grip was firm around his waist and protective.

Keba looked to Usagi, his eyes full of the raw emotion…her words were not only calming but they were in a way reassuring since he stopped worrying. He embraced her, turning in her arms finally and giving her a full on hug with both arms wrapped soundly around her middle-back so they rested closely in that moment; entangled in a moments that helped to settle the troubled mind of her somewhat older cousin.

For this time the moon's path was clear of clouds and both Keba and Usagi retreated to sleep in his bed, sharing warmth in the comfort of one another for the time being.

--The next day—

The light of morning his Keba's eyes as he slowly awakened in bed. It seemed even before the clock's alarm had sounded, he found something warm resting along his back; someone he couldn't see entangled in the mass of his platinum blond hair. However the sounds of an occasional murmur and the gentle voice let him know who: Usagi must have stayed overnight in his room. Not that he minded.

Though when he tried to move, he felt both arms gently hug closer to him and keep him from moving too far from her. Giving off a gentle laugh, Keba leaned back into her to let her get a little more rest; they had about 15 minutes before the alarm went off. He could give Usagi that much more time since she was resting in his room.

Of course when the 15 minutes ended and the alarm went off, Usagi remained in her slumber until about 40 seconds into the alarm. She shot up and looked around worried, was she late? Was there a fire? What was that horrid noise?

"Keba? Huh? What's going on?" she was of course frantic for the first few moments as she considered what was happening during the moment, at least until the alarm was finally turned off.

Her fellow blond cousin just snickered softly and led his fingers to brush his untamed locks back from his face.

"That, my dear Usagi is what you call an alarm and it woke you up with plenty of time before school." He said as she offered her a hand up.

She yawned loudly and took his hand, though once she saw the clock she whined as he helped her up. What? A whole 40 minutes before school?

"Why did you get up so early? That's 40 minutes of precious sleeping time!" she obviously was flabbergasted as to why he got up so early and wondered even more what she was doing up at this time of the hour?

He gave her a hug and then led his fingers back through her hair a moment, as if it were his job to help her hair into place; when had she let it down? He hadn't figured since she usually had it in Odangos, but he just shrugged gently at the thought and then let the hug remain for a moment since she stopped complaining at least while she was held he found.

"And the reason for that Usagi-chan is simple: I like the time to be ready for school and make sure my hair isn't unruly. Consider that my hair is the same length as your own, though a few inches shorter I must care for it the same that you must watch your own." He said as he laughed and let her go finally.

She blinked after he let her go, was that just to quiet her down? At any rate she took up a moment to wave her fist at him once he left.

"Hmph, I prefer sleeping!" she said called after him as he retreated to the restroom, while she herself headed back into her room. Maybe she could catch some quick Z's before going to school! At least she figured she could try first right? That was the plan anyway.

Though it didn't really work and Usagi found herself actually taking the moment to get ready earlier than was necessary (in her mind) for school; since she preferred sleeping late and dashing out of the door with toast in her mouth before running off to classes for the day and waiting for the best part of the school day: lunch!

--At school--

As things appeared to be nothing but difficult with the passage of time, school wsn't one of those things toady that Usagi found herself normally complaining about. Really she had gotten through class and was even showing some signs of all that studying paying off. She was attentive in class for once and even showed her intelligence by answering some questions. In that fact she was actually an able-bodied student whenever she wished to be, since that last night spent in Keba's room she had been feeling strangely focused and hoped that he had the answers.

After they had gone through classes and Usagi continued to showed all of the signs of a good student, she was wondering just what it was that had her performing so well, was it something that he'd done? She was wondering why she felt connected to him even more thans he had the night before? Her worries had seemed to melt away and she couldn't place it. So as lunch came around she had steadily takened out her food and went to meet Keba the same place she did every day; under the tree with her friends where they shared a fun time typically.

As Usagi found her way to the tree, she found Keba sitting against the tree and spreading the blanket on the grass, had he something bigger planned that she hadn't known about? It seemed so!

"What's the occasion Keba-kun?" Usagi asked him straight away once she'd made her way over to his side.

He looked up from setting up the mini-picnic that he and Makoto had planned for today's lunch, luckily he'd been the one way to make all of the cold foods yesterday evening. It made the fact that he hadn't slept well until after midnight perfectly fine, since he was more tired than normally due to not sleeping well over the past few nights.

"Just something that Mako-chan and I planned for today. I wanted to show off my hidden skills of the culinary arts~" he said waving his fingers in a small mystic manner as if it were something Usagi had never heard of.

She immediately swatted at him with her bag, making a face at him once she missed.

"That's just mean Keba, you know very well that I've been practicing cooking with mama!" she exclaimed, both Tsukino relatives finding a laugh in the manner.

As if right on cue, Mokoto came with her basket of goodies and set it down. All the while Ami, Minako, and Rei had been coming to share in the mael that was set up by only vague messages that eventually brought them around to see what all the fuss was.

(Focus: Makoto POV)

As Makoto finished setting her food out in a buffet-style for them and their friends, she greeted Keba with an embrace and received a kiss on the cheek. Her eyes rested upon his own for a moment, just how could one boy be so mysterious? Unlike any boy she had dated in the past, Keba was unusual in more ways than one. Aside from his maturity being far beyond his years, he had a sort of grace that made her feel that she had always been perfect...for a lack of better words. Her intensity had always been something of a hinderance in her past relationships and never could be taken that seriously she found.

What had it been about her new blond boyfriend? Aside from getting a wonderful friend in him that she could talk to about nearly anything; she also got someone who hid nothing from her that wasn't important she found. When she found out that he was the figure who had helped them out a few times, she found herself not too surprised by the standards. He seemed able-bodied and gifted in many ways, but she had yet to see what he was.

She wanted to see not just his transformation, but she felt almost at a distance with some of what he did do. She felt very inclined to find out more about his powers and his position at the head of this group he mentioned every so often. The Banshou.

Just who were they? The group was there to support the Senshi in their duties of protecting the Moon Princess, Keba specifically warned to keep them out of her mind; to leave he and the Banshou on the outside of this 'fortified wall' that he described kept their duties bound. He spoke of them as the foot soldiers in a battle to quench the world of the darkness that threatened so many an innocent. He would often remind her to focus on her duties and knew her capable of many a thing: But what if she didn't want to?

He was selfish in that aspect, constantly trying to keep her mind focused elsewhere...not to worry about his well being since he would take care, his group protected him first before themselves and acted as his bodyguards he explained. He had given her enough reasons not to worry, but what if she wanted to do the protecting? Would he ever allow her to take pride in what she did the most?

He was a little dear, perhaps too overprotective of the fact that she guarded the Moon Princess, she was surprised it was Usagi...but what did that make him to her? She knew he was more than he said, he insisted that he and Usagi were little more than cousins in life and that there was no need for her to worry about it. He openly dated her and made no excuses to anyone. She liked that about him, since he made no attempt to pretend that he was either manlier around her or that he was some kind of a macho man...he was just who he was: the kind sweetheart that she decided to take out one night.

It was amusing to her since she was the pursuer, and he the treasure that she had started holding dear to her heart from within. Fortune had most definitely been kind when she met him, while she was annoyed without knowing his secrets it wasn't like she couldn't live without finding out these small things later; at one time or another.

His mannerisms were anything but common for a boy his age. Even now as they ate and he sat next to her, he treated her like an equal; though an equal in a regal court...perhaps his words were some kind of a mysterious hint as to where he was truly from? She's already suspected one thing that was the conclusion on her mind: He was in some way part of the same royal family that Usagi was from. More than just cousins in this life, she'd seen how close they were and just overall the appearance similarities. He had similar blond hair, albeit a gorgeous platinum blond that rivaled that of the softest moonlight. His eyes were a beautiful twinkling hue of blue; though deep like the ocean it seemed to be swirling and not something that she could tell by just one look.

He'd always described his own eyes like Azure, but she equated them to a shimmering sapphire; which seemed to suit his regal-mannerisms she thought. The way that he held her hand always made her stop thinking though, she felt warmed by his presence; he was such a sweet soul. If only he'd known just what kind of a wonderful person that he was inside, she'd let him know tonight.

(End Makoto's POV)

--

The Lunch had been great and eventful for them, all of the girls had enjoyed the meals prepared by Makoto and Keba and before the lunch period had ended, Makoto pulled Keba to the side to talk to him.

"Yes Mako-chan what is it?" he said as he felt her hugging him, what was this all about? Well he was a little confused of course. They had already said their good byes a few moments ago he thought.

She gave a small smile and slid her fingers through his hair gently and looked into his eyes softly before she gave his lips a gentle peck.

"Come over tonight okay? I just want to spend some time with you alone is all." she said softly, she wanted to pour her heart out to him.

It had been a short enough time that perhaps it wasn't love, but a kind of strong infatuation? She needed to tell him, she rarely felt so strongly about just one person as she had been in the past moments before them. He was just such a kind boy, it was time that he got that message from someone other than his family.

He gave a soft nod and this was what she left it at; grinning at his blush as she drew back, the peck on the lips surprised him, good.

"I'm...err...yes, I'll be there...what time?" he said in a soft whisper almost, still breath stolen from him.

She held up seven fingers as she stepped backwards away from him before she turned and headed off to class, extra happy with something to look forward to tonight. had only she known who was watching with this idea that in moment seemed to be more brilliant than a failing thought; Jadeite had finally hatched a plan to call out that same do-gooder who had damaged him so badly upon his nearly crushing Sailor Moon.

"The revenge will be mine, I will capture or destroy this fool and return to my Queen victorious." the worsd that left his lips were obviously confident and it was to a failing, as that's what every bad guy thought...victory was always within their grasp.

But to the truth of fate it appeared that his fall was inevitable and that he was destined for one thing that he would find very soon in his future, to become a pile of ash that had fallen for the sake of the Dark Kingdom.

--Later that evening--

As planned, Keba promptly arrived at Makoto's residience and found himself nervous as he waited outside, while he'd been out with her several there didn't appear to be any kind of knack for his way of responding to her that was anything other than in a way that he would describe as meek. His heart was racing as it appeared that even from the memories that he'd shared...the future was not set for their souls as it seemed. He well remembered his interest in Venus and as well as the enchanting dance he'd shared with her at one time that night of the ball.

Yet now as the door opened, his gaze was locked with the beautiful princess of Jupiter, he felt chills run through his body as she took his hand gently and smiled.

"Almost so prompt with time aren't you Keba-kun? Well come on in!" she said as she drew him inside, he was honestly sometimes too formal; it was cute.

She entwined their fingers and led him to the dining room, she'd made a nice dinner for him and had every plan to try and get him to enjoy himself. She wouldn't push him too hard, but of course just enough to get the evening started. She had no expectations about tonight but was hoping that maybe something would happen tonight...anything to let her know she wasn't just grabbing at smoke or in this case, moonlight.

Keba settled down at the otherside of the table and had set down a fresh set of tulips he'd gotten for her, ones he'd picked and of course replaced in the wild reserve that he'd found them in. It was one of the more deviant things that he'd done to save a little cash, but he did ensure that they'd grow back fresher and even gave a bit of help towards their growth. He was going to ensure that things were set straight in the long view of things, while Keba was good even he slipped that line sometimes.

"So how do you like the dinner?" Mako-chan's voice chimed in and broke his thoughts, her voice confident in her cooking and proud of her achievement.

To that she was right to be proud, he offered her the best words he could come up with to describe her meal.

"Due to your brilliant knowledge of culinary arts Mako-chan, I've been taking into a whirlwind of brilliant flavor, tasty spice combinations, and soon will be enjoying a sweet and delicious dessert. In one way of putting it, you have wowwed my tastebuds and certainly have me hooked on your style of cooking." his words were not wasted, they were as genuine as the pretty smile that he seemed to possess. One of the things she loved about looking at his face, was whenever he smiled.

As the dinner had come to a conclusion and Makoto brought out something that she herself loved to cook on the regular, was a triple layer chocolate mousse cake; the best thing about tonight it was for two...and not just herself. She had someone to share it with and that made her a little giddy, she certainly felt as she should she thought; like a young woman who felt her emotions growing.

As Makoto served it to him and then dished herself out a piece, she made sure that her seat was closer than when at dinner. This was dessert and to her far more intimate than even dinner itself. She needed to know whether he felt the same way, this was something that was coming out as important. While it wasn't love...she found it important to atleast find out through his actions if he liked her, that would bring out some ease for her heart she thought.

(--Keba's POV--)

As he watched her face while he took the first bite of the chocolate cake, his mind was wandering along the sweetness of the cake. He could tell by the well built texture of the cake, her heart had gone into making this dessert for him. She was trying to communicate something very obvious that he'd been seeing in her since they started dating. She seemed to have some kind of prior infatuation with him, he was originally oblivious to it in the past he imagined. He was originally gone over Princess Venus, it was a fact in the past he found. But this was not the case anymore, his being here was the proof of that alone.

He had been dating Makoto for well over two weeks now and had enjoyed every moment he had with her as the moments went on. He was not really sure how to react to her explosiveness, she could be immediately surprising if the moment was right. That was something that he found to be a case here, it made him happy to know that she was so spontaneous. She was not afraid to take charge and for once it let him feel that he would be able to do one thing that he often wanted to do; not be a leader for just a moment or two.

As he finished the last bite of the cake, he spotted the look in Makoto's eyes...she seemed to be touched by the fact that he'd eaten not just all of the cake, he had been picking at the crumbs. It was not that he'd won her heart or anything with the move, but...without a word he had shown her just how much the cake meant to him. And it really was that good, it wasn't that he needed to eat it just to humor her; she was an amazing cook!

He imagined it was one of the things that had even made her feel that she was capable of not only something creative, but that she could also express herself through the types of food she would cook or even go along and show just where her heart was resting. She could put passion into her baking of any pastry or making a pasta dinner. It didn't seem to matter what kind of food it was, he thought that she was magic in the kitchen. He had rarely seen someone so versatile not at just cooking but also the martial arts as well.

He deeply admired her skill and the fact that she still remained feminine...there was not one part of Makoto's strength and actions that he had not admired in the past and now...he was getting to show that he not only admired it, but to that he appreciated it and her along with it. But to his own sense of warning he was now losing as those lines blurred, much like his sweet cousin, Mako-chan had her own ways of being forward about wanting to know who he was: she flat out told him that she wanted to know.

Despite any way he could try to evade her curiosity did it seem to fail in some way flat, since he never found that he was totally able to keep her deterred. How was he to explain that he was the Crown Prince next to Usagi? It would not do if he had any of the Sailor Senshi worrying about him or his well being, in his mind it was for he and his friends to worry about; but he knew that would quickly change. From the moment he chose to be involved with any of the senshi, that was changing and he wondered did it matter whether Makoto was simply one of their strongest warriors or whether she was as direct as she was to begin with?

He had no memory of ever moving from the kitchen, but now they were suddenly in the living room and watching T.V. beside each other. He noticed it was some kind of a romance and yet when he tried to tune into it, the feeling of wanting to gaze at someone he found beautiful was more compelling. Was it right to have such feelings at his age? He really wondered...was this him or perhaps the soul within? Even though he'd been told by his dreams 'Tsume and you are one in the same, you have changed and become you Keba, do not be confused'; his doubts were never totally absolved with just a dream telling him so.

As he felt her hand brush over his own, did his train of thought break once more. He found there was nothing better than to not need to think, it was very simple to see what happened; his fingers entwined with her own and began to rub her fingertips over slowly. It was just a gesture from him, something for her to know that this was real.

(End Keba's POV)

--

Were either of them ready for such feelings? The key question was something that couldn't be answered by word or thought alone, instead it would require the most focus from either mind...coming together to make a choice. Unbeknownst to either Senshi nor Banshou leader, that a monster had tracked said eminent thoughts to the house. This youma was not here to strike or destroy, no...her ways were a meaning of lust, confusion by thought, she was a conventionist thought.

"What best but to generate the needed results...have humans to create the excess of energy, through such means or thought...what better way than carnal passion?" her wicked voice hinted the plan as she spread her energy across the roof. Now the focus was to push the minds of the students whose feelings showed raw need.

What better way than the push the tensions high and then steal the energy further generated. While Jadeite was not so smart in all paths, his greatest of soldiers, Rynmaden had been of the lot under his command; amongst the most clever. As this would not stir the Senshi into action; quite the contrary this would perhaps make them victims to their own needs.

A date turned into a struggle against themselves, what better way to defeat senshi? Pitting them against their own wishes and desires...the night would speak of its own outcome.

(End Chapter)

Now I do plan for this to be contained, depending on whether anyone is actually interested in this stepping to some twisted level. This will be something more or less long-term. Even after the youma is vanquished, I would like to ask readers what are your thoughts on this idea?

Your responses may affect my next chapter...heh write back now.

Till then adieu,

-Quentix


	12. Chapter:Tiara of a Moon Princess, Part I

A/N: A chapter upon us, here it comes finally after waiting so long. The epic undertaking of Jadeite's plans coming to light, what will the future hold for him and Makoto, let it be seen as it unfolds in this new chapter front!

(End A/N)

Disclaimer: I don't own Sailor Moon in the slightest; I do however own Keba Tsukino, the Yuugou Hyoujinken Banshou and assorted members of that group. Just a reminder to you all, on with the show!

(End Disclaimer)

Chapter 11: Tiara of the Moon Princess, Part I

While Keba was at the mercy of his feelings for Makoto, he took a moment to think through the haze. It wasn't impossible to see that such a thing wasn't possible. There was no way that he could consider even with how forward Mako-chan was that they could've come so far. And how about himself, showing so little restraint when he prided himself heavily on his abstinence and manners?

Drawing back from Makoto, Keba took two breaths and squirmed a minute before finding himself in a position. There was no way that this was normal, such desires pushed to limits that they'd consider breaking any bonds they might've had?

"M-Makoto-san…this is not normal, we are not in the right state of mind." His words hitting straight to his conclusion, there was no way that they'd go so far given the little time they were dating.

After hearing Keba's voice and the clarity of his explanation, Makoto was able to come around to something of an understanding with it. He was right, how could she have given into such a thing so easily? She felt shamed by her actions; something had just made her feel so warm inside back there, and being close made her desire him.

The images were still plaguing her head, but since they were both free of contact she was just fine. Weathering the feelings that had made both feel awkward now would be easier to discuss later. She looked at Keba and noticed that he was looking around to see if some particular item or anything had been responsible for it.

"Keba-kun, what is it?" she wondered why he was moving closer to the window, a look in his eyes spoke of his finding something.

He appeared to be on the prowl now, as the wolf eyes tracked the faint feeling of youma energy. It was very faint, but no youma could hide their presence completely from his eyes.

"Youma…there are slight traces of one outside, I can see the energy." His words spoke with a sharpness that hinted at his honed battle instincts; he knew this feeling well enough to trust it.

Though he wasn't quite ready to go and creep on the outside, there was no way he could pass up the sense that he caught. This youma had done this to them and now would not escape.

The wolf's fangs were glinting and now he would sooner claim his victim. Though the only thing stopping him was Makoto's hand on his shoulder, firmly taking hold of him before he could leave; they had a few things to discuss first.

"Before you start trying to hunt, there is something that I want you to know Keba…about back there…I'm sorry. I was losing myself and-" she was cut off by a hand to the shoulder and a soft shake of his head.

"Hey, don't worry about it alright? I wasn't able to describe why I felt that way; I knew that something was up. It's not impossible to be lead by one's feelings Mako-chan, don't feel like it was your fault alright?" he said this with a smile and looked outside.

As he turned back to the hunt for the youma, he offered Makoto one more gentle look before he leapt into action.

"With the strength of justice!" the command sounded like some kind of rip-off from a bad cartoon…but none the less the robes of the Banshou had come in that instant. It seemed there was more than one way to change for the group than just their initial command phrase.

With his change complete, Keba gripped both of his tonfas and attempted to follow the scent of the youma he knew had been around the house. This one would prove to be a pain if not taken care of; this was nothing that he could allow to remain a threat.

While Keba had gone to hunt the creature, Makoto was just mulling over what happened and how she felt about it. Was it okay that she wasn't able to control herself at that moment? If Keba hadn't stopped them, would they have…done it? The thought was not only embarrassing but also troubling. To give into desires not of one's own will was nothing she'd felt could ever happen, yet when confronted with it she wasn't sure.

After a small explosion outside, it was sure to be known that Keba had found the youma that was responsible for this. Another blast sounding off into the night became a clear indication that already the two were bitterly engaged in combat.

"It would've been easier to give into your feelings warrior, instead now you will succumb tot his battle." The youma taunted him, grinning as her pupil-less eyes focused on her target.

Keba didn't respond with words, he was for once actually quite angry at what happened and unleashed a set of slashes unto the monster via the fang-tips of his tonfas. Whipping both down with a skilled control, he nicked the side of the youma's waist and earned a hiss from her.

As the youma released the pheromones again, the focus on her so that he'd fall victim to it, attraction to her would make him easier to kill. Though as she'd done this, she felt the tonfa ripping across her stomach and the second bladed ended narrowly missing her face. She kicked him as hard as she could, being pissed the moment she realized a fact: this one fool was in her way.

Keba skidded back in his tracks, but ignoring the pain had pointed his tonfas both outward and activated their second phase mode; the claw gauntlets were soon in use and his next attack was a dive for the youma. As his attacks increased in ferocity by the moment; the emotion in them was present.

"I-Impossible!" the youma's scream came as he slashed her face, while she punched him away from her, she found the platinum blond was not deterred by the strength of her blows and paid her back with two more heavy slashes across the belly.

No one could resist her pheromones…impossible! Here he wasn't even reacting to them; he seemed to be focused on ripping her to pieces and thusly, not caring in the slightest about anything else.

With the pheromones failing to do their job the battle quickly became one-sided, as Keba attacked from all directions. Coming from overhead and rebounding off of the sides of the walls while slashing right across her ribs again, it was sudden and vicious perhaps, but it seemed to have its purpose, since it finally slowed the youma down.

"Prepare to become Moon dust…die!" and just as he said it, in that mention his claws ripped across the ground and tore both of his claw gauntlets along her waist and torso at once, shredding her body in that mark.

In the remains of the fight he left nothing but a pile of dust where the pheromone youma had once been. In his anger he had finished the job quickly, though not without some regrets. He knew that the time had been ruined by this damned monster, Makoto felt worse for it and he knew this factually.

Without another thought to the matter, he went and returned to Makoto's house, taking the time to say that he had a fine time and was happy to have visited her. She offered little response at first, but after a few minutes offered him a goodnight.

"Take care Keba, though…let's take a break alright?" her words were sounding drained, as if she had lost a segment of her during this trial.

He gave her a soft nod, though from his end it was a simple understanding, he could also respect her decision. She needed time and space to figure out what happened and that was not lost on him. With his mind focused on the positive of another youma destroyed, he headed back towards the Tsukino homestead; unknowing of the pissed off Dark Kingdom general's eyes watching him leave the scene.

"You will soon pay for your futility, how dare you…foolish member of the Banshou, I will end your life." He said with a hiss as he clenched his fist.

Thinking of what he should do in such a case, would it be worth it now at the drop of the instant to attack this lonesome fool? The Banshou warrior had effortlessly taken her out and didn't waste any moments when still moving off home. It stunned him a little bit, how strong this boy was.

Though the moment that Jadeite had taken the time to think, was he lost in that instant. As he tried to find the boy, he found nothing but empty space, there was no power…what was this?

"You will hide no longer boy; it will be the following day that I find. I will not fail my queen." He said this to himself, recalling her giving him only a day and a half to either find out who this meddler was or capture a great mass of energy.

He would do both and gain her praise, he would have this would-be hero who dared to assist the Sailor senshi against the dark kingdom. Nothing but a miserable fool who challenged impossible odds, how could he hope to challenge Queen Beryl's might? Let alone the Shitennou, even he as the dubbed weakest member would be more than a match for him.

As Keba arrived at home he made sure to creep in quietly so as not to be caught by his Aunt Ikuko or Uncle Kenji. Making his way upstairs was managed with ease, though he found he'd come in around 2 am; it meant he spent far more time than he'd planned to at Makoto's.

"Keba-kun, what kept you?" the words immediately stopping him as he'd already snuck into his room and changed into his night clothes.

He'd hoped to avoid meeting his cousin, though it seemed his suspicions were quite correct and he'd be explaining himself away to her. His mind already began trying to think of a way to explain the situation to his fellow blond, how could he explain this away to her in one instant? He doubted that he could really, that and the expression on her face let him know that a lie would not be welcome.

For the time, there was nothing but a cool silence before Usagi walked up to him and embraced him. Tugging the slightly taller Keba to her and just resting her head on his shoulder. It almost seemed as if she didn't care what he had to say. It was the fact that he was back that mattered most to her really.

All that she was really worried about was his safety; his staying out this late had troubled her mind. More hunting was involved and she knew it without him saying a word. The fact that he flinched told her it just enough.

"Keba…next time, take me with you okay? I don't want to hear a reason, but you keep telling me enough about doing my own hunting. You've told me that I have to grow into my position as leader of the Senshi right? Well why don't you let me do so, in your presence?" her words were determined, not wanting to hear a 'no' from him.

The silence was still maintained as he sighed softly, why was she so stubborn? She was coming back to this…after all she had finally been taking off on her own, and she had impressed him. With a decent number of youma hunted alone successfully, she did not cry or whine.

In fact she'd gone out of her way to show her growth at studying schoolwork too. But always being in his presence made her happy, he was still the center of her focus in one way or the other. But now…she wouldn't listen to any reasons he had, the look in her eye told him this was a fact.

"Usagi, I-well…I just don't…I can't keep remaining your focus, your future as a leader is jeopardized. I will always be your family, but I shant stand in the way of your progress-" his words were cut short by a broad handed slap.

She would not hear anymore of his words, how could he say such a thing to her? Didn't he understand that it hurt to see him even wounded once? Of course it bothered her and she decided that she'd had enough of his foolishness.

As unshed tears glittered inside of her eyes, she held him closely again and looked up into Keba's eyes.

"No more alright? I won't…I can't here it from you again Keba. You've said it so often, you've kept secrets for my sake…you've fought alone for my sake. For my growth, you want to protect me and see me grow. And while you've been thinking about my future, I've been thinking about how little I would have if I lost my big brother to his own stupid agenda." She had come a long way, still crying but asserting a stronger presence.

"As Leader of the Senshi, I demand that you accept my will this one time alright? We will work together more often from here on out, you allow me one simple thing: to stay by your side when you and I'll worry about growing into a leader okay?" she wanted him to stop, all of the secrets…or at least some of them.

She held onto him while he baked over the matter, really it wasn't that hard to consider was it? She was just asking for him to let her do as she wished, which was seeing that her last link to the Moon Kingdom (as far as family) stayed alive and at her side.

Finally Keba spoke a response, something soft and faintly whispered since he didn't trust his voice to be that loud.

"As you wish Usagi, I will hold very little from you…" he said before picking her up by her sides lightly and hugging her tightly, even though it was just briefly, he finally let the better of his emotions claim him at least this once.

The two Tsukino family members embraced one another in the hallway, the depth of the feelings finally coming down like a wall that had parted them from the moment. The wall of secrecy had fallen, if only somewhat and with a promise Keba assured Usagi that he'd hunt with her more closely.

As he finally drew back from the embrace and slipped into his room, he felt a pair of arms hugging his waist gently from behind. Peering over his shoulder, Usagi was there again and following him towards his bed; he knew where it was going. As so many times whenever she got scared or was lonely, she rested in bed with him.

"Sorry to intrude…but I guess I am a little fearful." She said as she hugged him again, he nodded and then casually gestured to his bed.

"Go on Usagi-chan, I'll be there in a moment, still gotta get ready for bed." He said as he headed into the bathroom, he would proceed to treat the wounds he suffered with some special ointment made by Itani, it would keep the pain to a minimum at the very least.

After about 6-8 minutes in the bathroom, Keba moved off to the bed and curled into the left side of the bed opposite the lump he found under the blanket. And as he thought, Usagi was snoozing almost immediately by the time he got out there.

While Keba leaned into her slightly, she naturally curled into his body and hugged him while resting. Leaving the two blonds to rest peacefully that night, Keba slept deeply and took what hours he could before school the next day.

Unbeknownst to the two resting cousins, the next day would push them both to a new limit. As the Shitennou's weakest made his plans appropriate to attack. It would be as simple as finding his way to draw out both of his victims.

"Tomorrow will end it, I will finish you both…Sailor Moon and you as well Banshou dog, neither of you will ever get in my way again." Jadeite's words full of hatred seemed to be clear in his mission to destroy them both.

As he disappeared, he went on to make his plans and finalize the objective so that he would finally claim the human's energies for the return of their great evil, Queen Metalia.

As the night passed and the witching hour became an early dawn, the conflict would ensue when either Senshi or Banshou suspected it. And there would be quite a mess on hand as the clash between light and dark would begin once more.

-The next day—

Waking up closely entangled with Usagi, Keba felt almost like some kind of a conjoined twin. As he squirmed somewhat to loosen her hold, she seemed to clutch him all the closer; he wondered just how the heck she managed it.

By this point her face was in his shoulder and she was drooling on him somewhat, a silly grin on her face, somehow she'd managed to lock her arms around his side. Taking another look at his sleeping relative, he smiled and shook his head before he managed to snake away. Having quieted his alarm before it woke his cousin up, he decided to give her 20 minutes more before waking her up. They could both get to school early and study a bit while enjoying a time to chat.

Though he hadn't thinking about it much, he did feel better since deciding to open up to her…this would be a good thing. They could work out her growth, still fight together, and ease her mind all at once. Though he knew that telling the other members of the Banshou would be a pain; it was better than her trying to chase after him either way.

The facts remained clear to Keba and that was if he didn't get things reigned in then they wouldn't go well at all again. He would never let it deteriorate this bad before and wasn't about to let it start again.

While her cousin was busy thinking about what he was going to do when he got to school, he'd feel two arms wrap around his stomach from behind. As Usagi pressed her face into his hair and nuzzled against the soft platinum blond tresses that hung down near his back, she often did this when they were younger. Just holding close to the only one who was like that big brother you always wanted around. The truth was that she was afraid for his safety whenever he was off fighting for the safety of innocence.

"Keba, you should've gotten me up y'know." she said in a soft tone, her voice unusually mellow this morning.

He shrugged lightly and hugged her arms with one of his own before speaking, as she was comfortable with it, there was always a reason and usually legitimate as to why he did things. That was one thing she always loved about him, things always had a reason and no matter how it might be hurtful, it was always for the best possible outcome.

"Well we both know I'm the early bird, I didn't want to wake you up just because I was getting up again." he said while looking over his shoulder to glance at her.

Letting off something of a giggle, she shook her head lightly while still pressed into his back.

"Well I have to develop your morning habits, so get me up!" she said before letting him go and stretching out with a yawn.

It was most strange to Keba that she was acting so...well regal all of a sudden. The Usagi he knew was more of a loud snoring, late sleeping, and at times even whiny girl. But it seemed that she had matured a little bit since she found out who he was, he noticed that despite keeping her genuine habits alive; she was trying to mature a little bit as if she had to.

He was certain that she was letting her job as defender of the weak and innocent influence her, which of course was in its own right a fine thing. As he watched her humming and skipping out of the room to go dress, he smiled again as that was what he wanted to see across the face of his cousin; happiness that was untouchable.

"May she find her other soon...Tuxedo Kamen, show her the path to the future." his words hinting that he knew something of the future.

All the while Keba had been in his own mind, he was sure that Usagi's guardian and advisor was watching over their actions. He was not wrong, for Luna had been closely monitoring Usagi's actions over the past week and noticed how well her skills had developed. Of course the only problem was her focus, as while it was not a bad thing to care and worry for another; her determination concerning Keba should have been a close second to the biggest issue. It was a struggle all itself really, she was unsure of how to proceed after all it wasn't as if the Royal Moon family's safety wasn't important.

"Worried about what to do Luna-dono?" the words of consideration coming from behind the black feline.

As Luna jumped slightly, disturbed from her own thoughts she calmed down once she saw it was only Siele, who had finally been up after recovering from her wounds. Since she was under the watchful eye of Ikuko and Kenji, she'd been allowed to conserve her strength with little trouble.

"Ah, Siele...its good to see you around again. Perhaps you can tell me why Keba is acting so...unlike himself. Something doesn't seem right but I can't place what it is and it worries me." Luna's tone spoke just that, of her concerns.

While he wasn't her charge, it didn't make her worry and less about his condition. Siele knew this all too well and let off a sigh, it would be a simple matter of explaining what it was.

"Well Luna-dono, it is to say that the Prince has never required much guidance. While he might stray from the path he may need to go on occasion, a reminder will bring him to his place. This particular ominous feeling that is about means that he will be taking on whatever problem arises and of course in this setting that could mean a serious strike from the Dark Kingdom." Siele was no fool and knew his signs well.

After a simple look she'd deciphered that he was hiding something huge, this further worrying Luna gave her a thought of consulting with Artemis.

"Thank you Siele, and if you would come with me. I want you to meet someone." she left it at that and gestured before hopping down the stairs to head out the backdoor. She'd get her up to date on everything that one in the position of advisor/guardian was doing these days.

As the window of 15 minutes passed, both Keba and Usagi were already downstairs eating their breakfast with time to spare, it seemed that it would be fine once they headed off to school. This stunned Ikuko and Kenji to a degree, as neither had seen their daughter not only awake but not stuffing her face to rush off to school late. While her family was stunned by her activities, Usagi was thinking about studying as Keba had asked her to before school started today.

She mentally winced at the thought of having to listen to Keba tell her the notes that she took during class, even though she was becoming a more effective student with Keba as a guide she didn't like it all that much. But it was something that she'd grow into as a role, since Keba told her one thing that she still retained to this day: Things still had to be done, this included the things one didn't appreciate.

Some random thought to that effect, she still thought it was a pain and didn't let that slow her eating.

"Mama, these pancakes are wonderful!" she managed while still having a decent mouthful.

Ikuko just grinned at her daughter's actions, it seemed she was still the same old Usagi even if she was surprising somewhat now. Shortly following this both Keba and Usagi finished at narrowly the same time and the two set off for the door after taking school bags and lunch.

"Bye bye Dad! Bye bye Mom! See you after school!" she called to her cheerily while heading out the door Keba was holding.

"Good bye Aunt Ikuko, Uncle Kenji! See you later!" he said with a polite wave and a smile there on his face, he was quite glad to see that Usagi was in a good mood, no more to the fact she seemed to be glowing with happiness.

Such thing was a rarity, given the bad feeling that he had for the day. As with most incidents he couldn't tell just what kind of thing that meant.

_'Maybe I put too much thought ahead, I'll stay aware but it doesn't seem necessary.' _he said surmising that the situation was not as bad as he thought initially.

How was he to know what kind of day could be ahead right?

"Yo Keba!" Usagi suddenly shouted from behind him, making him jump forward in shock.

She giggled madly and then burst out laughing at the sight of him stumbling forward; that was possible the most unaware she'd ever caught him.

"Er...yes Usagi?" the words spoken in his embarrassment at the situation.

She grinned and folded her arms behind her back, as if she were innocent of having scared him.

"Oh nothing~" she said with a soft sing-song tone to her words.

She took off towards the school grounds skipping, they had about 20 minutes before the bell wound sound for class to start. Shaking his head at the matter, Keba looked after her and then simply went after her taking a light jogging pace to catch her.

-On the school grounds-

Getting to school in good time, Keba sat down under the favorite cherry blossom tree and broke out the science book, they had some studying to do and in a rush.

"Come on Usagi, let's get this going alright?" he asked her with a light smile, watching her come to his side.

She plopped down before him and waited for him to read the notebook and the notes within. He was so smart, coming up with questions that were sometimes very similar to those on the test. She had come to depend upon him for his quick mind and this was just another example of it. Things were covered quickly in short rolls of themes, it seemed that Keba wanted to see that Usagi got the finer points of the quick review session.

The time passed by quickly and much to Keba's surprise she was intently listening, following every word that came from his lips, there he was unable to tell what gave way for her focus. But he certainly was one to like it, after all she was going to prove successful on the test as this was, what more could he ask for?

As the bell sounded, Keba concluded the end of the study session and both blonds got up from their seats under the tree. Heading off to homeroom where their first class and test would be, just before entering Keba offered Usagi a word of good luck and a hug, before heading in first. Usagi looked to the door and nodded to it, well it was almost a sign of confidence and as she stepped in she marched to her seat and sat down. It was time to ace a test, this was something that Usagi was sure would be better than even the ones before; she was a whole new student by this time around there was no way she'd fail.

All the while the two were taking their test they'd never have guessed that the Shitennou's most active general was making his move.

"So...this is where they go to school? Then It's time, first the youma..." he said as he summoned one of his swiftest warriors, Bishaten.

"You are to go into the school, no disguises just attack the main hall, I would like you to steal the human energy and gather it for me." he knew this was his last chance, either his youma would succeed or he would first in destroying both the Prince Tsume and Sailor Moon.

While his youma bowed her head to him, her armored figure took off for the main hall, disappearing in an eerie blue flare of light. The mission was simplistic in nature and Jadeite knew he could count on one thing, the Senshi would respond and pain no mind to the fact that his special distraction would draw out both of his targets specifically. He would play around no longer, this divide and conquer strategy that he had in mind would work wonders on this group.

Teleporting to Tokyo Tower's epicenter where his guest had awaited his arrival, Jadeite smirked at the tied up girl in her unconscious form. He'd captured Naru from the main class and left a little 'gift' of a weak transforming spell to guide her best friend out of the room, he stumbled upon this girl and figured that she might be special. He had no direct knowledge of the true identities of his targets, but for some reason he thought that this girl would.

"Awaken human." he said coldly as he slapped her face, making sure the material of his glove snapped across her skin.

Naru's face turned from the blow and she yelped in response to the hit. Having come to wake with bindings tightly holding her to the steel girder near the top of the Tokyo Tower, she only did what was natural and screamed loudly. A fear of heights? Who could tell, though it was certain that no one liked to be tied up and left dangling over near open space.

"Help me! Please someone-ahh!" another slap crossing her face to silence her cries.

"Stop shrieking human, you are going to bring my victims to me. I know that Sailor Moon has been protecting you most religiously. All of my soldiers have been stopped by her directly and the incidents involved you." Jadeite's grin was wide at this point.

"W-What are you talking about?" Naru's chilled tone showed that she had no idea what he was talking about, what kind of madman was he?

He laughed at her forgetful mind, it was only natural that magicks would protect her mind from such horrors. It did not matter, all that did was that both of his targets would appear before him and he was to take them both out, he felt his Queen would be most happy if he were to do this. Thinking of his success, he used his dark powers to spread the effects of his normal voice, it would echo throughout the city.

"Sailor Moon! I am commanding you to come out of hiding, come to Tokyo Tower and to you Prince Tsume, a personal challenge if you dare to take it. Both of you, come to the Tower or I will drop this human girl and her life will be on your necks." his evil laughter was only backed by Naru's cries.

Back in school as the class had ended and Usagi was happily walking the halls, she stopped once she realized just the kind of terror that voice was going through.

"No! Not Naru!" instantly recognizing her best friend's cry, she turned to rush off, she had to save her!

She ran flush into her cousin's arms, who was looking pressured, but still relatively calm about the situation.

"Hold on, don't fly off the handle Usagi." Keba was sure something was up, the dark general he'd faced once proved to be skillful and elusive. This was some kind of trap.

She squirmed in her cousin's arms and tried to get loose, how could she stay calm?

"It's Naru, I can't leave her there Keba!" her tone was emotional, worried deeply for her friend.

"Don't worry, we're going...he called for us both. As he's looking for the Prince that means he hasn't figured it out yet. When we arrive, you free Naru and get her to safety alright? I'll buy you some time with Jadeite, given that I wounded him once I am certain he won't have forgotten. But first you have to be calm, we can't afford any mistakes...just breathe a moment, Naru will need you calm and focused." his words were gentle and soothing, with his plan revealed he hoped that it would.

"Yeah, but...I guess so." she said as she looked up at him, breathing in deeply as he had showed her in the past.

After a moment, she was visibly looking better though still occasionally squirming with anxiousness.

"Alright Usagi, let's transform and go, Naru needs us." Keba wasn't going to get in Usagi's way during this, his concern was Jadeite's battle with him.

As the two took off down the hall towards the side exit, the transformations begin.

"Moon Prism Power, Make up!" Usagi speaking the words with determination, as her transformation began that same mindset became the fuel for her change and would strengthen her actions through the new hope she held. Her cousin's plan would be foolproof if she had anything to say about it; executed flawlessly was the main goal now, in order to safely get Naru out of Danger.

"Banshou Hyoujinken, Tsume Getsuei Gate, Release!" the words for his own transformation being spoken, in this very light it was clear that Keba's change into the Banshou equivalent of their leader was in theory equivalent to Sailor Moon only through his two sources of power.

As the two cousins raced towards the Tokyo Tower, Jadeite waited with thinning patience and looked over the surrounding space. As he made sure that everything was in place, if this worked out then he would be a hero and two major enemies would have been vanquished.

This plan could not fail or it would indeed mean the end of his life.

"All for the glory of the Dark Kingdom, come...let us spread our darkness all across the Earth!" his fist raised as he pepped himself up for this final bout, his cackle once again echoing down from the heights of the tower.

Very soon the forces would clash and the matter to be settled in one final bout between the Shitennou's force and the forces of the Moon Royalty, who would win? That answer would be soon felt out.

(End Part I)

Just the piece of part one, I shall continue to write since I think I found a new grove. It should be a simple matter and will go smoothly as long as focus is kept. I hope you all enjoyed this chapter.

Please Read and Review, I really love anything I can get. Criticisms? Ideas? Even just one liners saying its good work.

Till the next time, I bid you adieu

-Quentix


	13. Chapter:Tiara of a Moon Princess,PartII

A/N: After a while I finally get back in the groove, for all those who have been waiting, look no more. Sorry about being away, real world has a method of ruining plans to write often. But here I am, better late than never!

(End A/N)

Chapter 12: Tiara of the Moon Princess, Part II

As both Usagi and Keba both made their way towards the tower, the world around them seemed almost surreal. It was as if things had taken a small warped look of the world and slowed it all down. What more could they do to be ready for their fate? The showdown with Jadeite held Naru's life in the balance, there was no way they could lose; when Keba had promised Usagi that this would go in their favor he had meant it.

The moon prince toiled over his plan, which was to take on Jadeite long enough to allow Usagi time to free Naru from his grip; likely the girl was just bait and he wouldn't care one way or the other. _'Usagi I won't let you get hurt…your demands I shall give into, but on my terms'_, these thoughts of his were hidden with reason. He never wanted to frighten Usagi with the one thing he'd held in common with his past self: the wish to see his cousin not only on the throne, but safe and in one piece. The prince still to this day, with all of her tears shed would ever have known; just how she much she loved him, and desired him to remain healthy and by her side.

He couldn't know how she felt…and why she tried so hard to keep by his side? Her nights were occasionally filled with sadness, the memories of watching Royiaru on the floor; holding him as the blood left his body and his consciousness slowly fading as he told her to keep going strong. _'You aren't leaving me…ever again Keba, even if I have to stand in the way of destiny's doors.' _, her mindset was unbefitting of a princess of the moon; but for her it was just how much she feared being alone…she could not bear the thought of losing her cousin.

As the two royal members had begun their scaling of the Tokyo Tower, Usagi stopped them a few floors down; putting a hand on Keba's shoulder and spoke gently.

"Keba-kun, be careful…he'll drag you down with him if he could." Her words of warning were also the biggest fear that she'd held, would he heed her finally?

Giving her hand a light squeeze, he looked over to her and could easily spy her emotion. She seemed so worried for him.

"Hey…don't worry about me; after all you'll be with me Usagi. I have faith in your courage; you have grown a lot out there. Just get Naru out of danger and come join me, we'll finish this together." A statement of certainty, she could trust Keba's word.

Sailor Moon gave her cousin him a smile, before leading them the way to the elevator; this tactic to grant the element of surprise in their favor. He would think them coming from there, while in truth they were to come from the south end of the large structure. Keba surmised that splitting up would be disastrous, since at least together could deflect whatever came their way.

-With Jadeite and Naru-

Awaiting the coming of Sailor Moon and that painfully irritating Banshou member was wearing down on his patience, was this bravery to be expected? The weak girl, Sailor Moon had been pathetic when they first met, yet within the presence of that annoying Banshou person; she perked right up. He had not figured out their connection, only that there was something between them.

He knew this was his last chance and it would count, this was to be his victory with this human girl in hand. Right before him, the Banshou scum had come to land before him, with platinum blond resting at his sides and the gauntlets worn on hand. It seemed that this dog was ready to die and this was a major problem for him.

"You're here, Banshou dog, but I requested both you and Sailor Moon. You both are to die this day, but you first. You wounded me and for that I will have your life." Jadeite's last word had marked his attack.

The instant the words left his mouth, the Shitennou general was on the move; a dark blast of energy catching the Banshou member off guard. While he began to gather another orb of dark energy, moving before his target's staggering form expecting to strike him once more.

But Keba had been ready to strike back, his actions saved him from the second dark blast, which he shielded from himself with his claw gauntlets. As he pulled his hands down, the blades swept towards Jadeite, his blades managing to lightly rake the dark warrior's side in the pass that he made. While knowing he wasn't strong enough to defeat him alone, he fully intended to keep his focus right on himself until Naru was safe.

As once again the moon prince parried the deadly aim for his midsection, he managed something of a counter-hit; a blunt strike to the side of his face with the main segment of the gauntlet, performed in mid-dodge this allowed him to propel himself some feet away from the now downed Shitennou member.

-With Sailor Moon-

While not far off from the ongoing battle, Sailor Moon crept towards Naru; she seemed to be pretty sure that she could get her without alerting Jadeite. Though the contest of skill was currently in her cousin's favor, she had no intentions of letting him continue alone; this was their fight together.

After freeing Naru from her bindings, she quickly patted her friend's shoulder in reassurance. Nodding to her thanks before sending her off quickly, gesturing her towards the stairs to quietly leave without notice.

"Quickly, go now…we will take care of this bad man." She didn't offer a chance for Naru to say more, the final portion of her words ending once Naru passed the doorframe.

Nodding once that was done, Sailor Moon turned in time to witness Keba being stricken back against the railing. She didn't hesitate to grab the open window of opportunity to act, "Sailor Moon kick!" her words calling the intent of her flying kick, as her heel lit up with some small charge of her focus. This little trick taught to her by Keba paid off, as she connected with Jadeite's ribs.

"Gah!" the cry of pain from Jadeite was quite clear that the blow hurt more than his second foe thought it might, as her kick sent him flying off to the side a few feet; he was quick to recover and glare at her.

During the moment Jadeite took to recover for a moment as he glared at Sailor Moon, who helped that Banshou fool up to his feet. They were as close as he expected, connected in some way that he still couldn't say just what it was and that bothered him.

"Are you okay?" she was careful not to use any names; Jadeite didn't need to know their true identities.

"I'm fine, let's finish this…we cannot allow him to walk from this." Keba's words were full of conviction, as this came to pass he would make it very clear that they were going to end this.

Jadeite was taken aback by this turn of emotion, what made him so sure that they'd win? The look in this Banshou scum's eyes was beginning to piss him off more. Bringing from his right side, a bladed weapon surging with darkness, the Shitennou member rose from the ground. Eyes beaming with pride and the feeling that he would walk back a victor.

"We have our pride; I am Jadeite of the Shitennou! I will not fall to the likes of pathetic weaklings!" the words were boldly stated as he stared to charge them.

Though as his blade glimmered with his dark resolve, it was met by Sailor Moon's gaze of fiery spirit; as both she and Keba stood their ground, as if awaiting the dark warrior's charge at them Neither showing a sign of weakness, something inside of Jadeite knew then…his end was near.

She removed the tiara present on her forehead; behind it did the crescent moon shimmer brightly. Her blue eyes burned with emotion, this resonance showed as moon princess's resolve burned with vigor to protect. She spoke "Come the lights of the moon, to punish the vile spirits, Moon…Tiara…Action!"

With the tiara now the shape of a glittering disc of light, it flew towards Jadeite's attacking charge; dare Usagi to say that it looked bigger due to her intense emotions? Though to her shock there was a light that she could not describe shimmering from Keba's body, as the claw gauntlets seemed to melt back at his true strength showed. Something that she had never seen of Keba's nature before, was this the light he tried to hide from her?

"Feel the light of the fallen, as I bear my soul to you dark one; be cleansed, Kinji's divine light!" the words only reflecting the magnitude of the light.

How strange it was to see something so bright that didn't burn to look at, this was how best Usagi could describe what the strange bow of light appeared to be. The bow's form had been no smaller than Keba's height (5'4"), but wielded with great ease. She'd never seen the bolt of light fly from the end; but when she looked after the glittery trail she caught the instant it hit her tiara.

The light mingled and gradually became a brilliant streak that passed straight through the target. Jadeite never stood a chance when it came to his survival, his body was torn and his blade was disintegrated before the powerful weapon of light. The remains of the former Shitennou member fell before their path, a memory of the man that had been their foe.

For a few moments the victory seemed bittersweet, there was less and less involving a battle and seemed that some poor victim had been eaten alive by ambitions. To Sailor Moon, this was a battle that had not been necessary, but it was past. All that remained now in that wake was a need to know, she noticed Keba turning towards the city and she approached him.

One arm curling around his side, immediately squeezing her cousin as she looked to his solemn face; what was it that troubled him?

"Keba…you have the mark of the moon as well. Why didn't you say anything about it? I mean, I know we're family and it should be expected, but was there some reason?" she wanted to know just why he hadn't told her?

She'd find his hand gently patted her shoulder, before his arm curled around her in turn. Usagi was certain he'd tell her why now; what could drive him to hide something like that?

At first he said nothing, just watching her face and the emotion present, though more was just what he could see in a large amount: anticipation.

"The reason is, Usagi that I did not want to allow the enemy to know there is another of our family still around. Should it be necessary, I can act in secret this way; to back you up and leave the Dark Kingdom guessing. It is to say, that I want them to know of me as merely another 'nuisance'; I apologize if it seems that I mean to have you as some bait…but the Dark Queen's greatest concern is you. I was only ever another obstacle towards her true goal: you." Though the moment he finished his words, he regretted it…seeing the look in Usagi's eyes made him wish he'd never spoken the truth.

The look on her face was one of pained realization; it defied her original beliefs completely. At first she thought it was a plan to be rid of the moon family, but it made no sense to attack everyone so openly then. It was something that she had always feared inside, that with this knowledge now became a reality to her. She was the sole reason for what happened on the moon, the Silver Millennium was destroyed all because of her love for the prince of the Earth. Keba's whole reasoning about keeping his power secret, thinking so little of his own existence was because of her? She certainly didn't wish to believe it true.

It was only the soft words of her cousin that brought her back; he broke her cycle of growing despair.

"Now you know that not for one minute that I am aiming for sacrifice, none of us are, Usagi-chan. Please remember that you lead us ultimately, against all of this and we are doing our part to protect you in turn. As a leader, you must remember that safety is one of the things we must consider. Please remember this, do not despair over the past; for it has only crafted the path of the future for us now." Having spoken his piece, the Banshou leader rubbed her shoulders and hugged her.

The two blonds took a moment in time, to enjoy the quiet and the victory won this evening, Tokyo would sleep quietly tonight through the actions they had taken. It was just what she could have hoped, though her cousin's words let her know that there would be some changes; something that she would see did come if she was truly leader. For now she would let it slide, her cousin's actions had proved only to be for her benefit as he proved that he wanted just to make her happy. His every moment was dedicated to her safety, Usagi knew that she was lucky to have such protective family; but it would not due for her to have him lost to his effort of protecting her.

As she brought her arm around his wounded side, she and Keba headed back home; they had just enough time to catch a good night's rest and a little reprieve from what they'd just dealt with. She would have to work out some way, sharing position with her cousin, perhaps letting him know that his life was more important than her ultimate safety in her mind.

-Back at the Tsukino Residence-

After the two had returned from their duties, Keba had told a careful half-truth to his aunt about the pain of his waist, the battle with Jadeite had proved to be more trouble than it was; but most of all it was done and they had won. With surprisingly little trouble aside from Keba's various wounds and some scratches Usagi had taken from the exploding dark energy. After both teens had retreated to their personal sanctuaries for relaxing, the evening once more brought forth the time of sleep.

Usagi was thinking about what had happened, the past month had just been unreal in terms of events happening, changes in life had been quick and sudden. There was no regret however, despite all the changes that had over the small time period she had no problem with it at all, it brought a desire to try to understand it better if that were possible.

Though as she walked towards Keba's room, the intention quite clear, was to spend the night with her cousin: something that she often did during tough times. Now was no less traumatic for her it seemed, though she did what was right for the sake of Naru's safety and their own lives; both she and Keba had extinguished the life of the being, Jadeite. Even though it had to be done, his dark plans would have pushed many evils upon Tokyo and this was not something that she could allow.

It was almost as if she were on autopilot, having knocked politely on the door, and without fail curled into Keba's frame when he answered it. As if it were already understood between the two of them that what happened was not something that she could let go with such ease. How did he do it? She almost was afraid to ask how he dealt with his emotions, did he tuck them away and grieve quietly? But the questions never came from her.

As Keba invited her into his room, still embracing the sleepy moon princess, he nudged the door closed with his foot and retreated to his bed; left arm tucked very gently around her side. Even as he crawled into bed and moved over to her, she never completely released her hold on him. He could tell that she was still spooked by it all, perhaps even the scale of her powers was not something that she was aware of. Though he doubted that was why she was so quiet as of late. No, that came with knowing that you as one person were responsible for ending the life of one who simply had ambitions or aspirations of a dark nature.

But he let all of his thoughts rest for the night, as per feeling Usagi's gentle grip on him as he settled in for sleep. Feeling her tuck in close, Keba did not do anything less than embrace her. Just so she'd know that he was there for her, in rest they would find comfort in each other's company. He could admit that she calmed him, her sweet and loving spirit knowing no bounds of showing affection, and he was happy to know it well; her sweet love of family and friends was unrivaled.

Sleep came to both of the Tsukino youths with little trouble, while Usagi's trusty guardian had been conversing with the mysterious Siele; the two had revealed things to one another that had been priorly secret to this point. The information was key in ensuring that things went smoothly.

"...I see, so the Prince was in one way, her majesty's secret weapon, though if you pardon the speak. I understand that the Queen's idea was to keep the prince under the radar, but his insistence to protect his cousin at all costs made that difficult." the words coming from Luna as she more or less repeated what she had been informed of, this did make more sense with the once missing facts.

Siele had been revealing the quieter side of Queen Serenity's actions involving the prince, as it had been a fact that she tried to keep him from the public eye; after his mother passed away then it had become easier to maintain a veil of secrecy when it came to the prince. But in the end it had sadly all fallen to naught, as Prince Royiaru's attempt to protect Serenity had cost him his own life, and by proxy both hers and Prince Endymion's as well.

"I have given you all of this information in good faith, you are the one that her majesty entrusted along with Sir Artemis to handle the safety of the Moon Family. I am your support in any way that I can, you may rely on my Lady Luna." these words were to be quite true.

Even though she was Keba's guardian and his confidant, she would not fail to help Luna solve problems if possible, it was for her anything that might be necessary to ensure safety of not just the Moon Princess but the Prince as well. Trusting in the person that the Queen herself had would be something she knew that she could do.

"Can you contact the group he is with, the Banshou? We must alert them to this." Luna's word was quickly answered with a nod.

"I'll do so tonight, they will not allow the prince's foolishness to go on." it was that simple, a determination to keep him from descending into a level of stupidity on his own; while bold and honorable the aim was blind unto itself.

Time would reveal well whether or not Keba still housed the level of an overbearing protector, a fierceness that rivaled even the Senshi's. Disaster had to be averted at any cost, even protecting the Prince against his own wishes; for if he fell then little would stop grief from stealing Usagi's attention; a true crisis that could not be repeated again.

-The Next Day-

As the morning came, Usagi was quick to rise, if but for the chance of silencing his alarm. The instant that annoying ringing tried to go off, she smacked the sleep button. Grumbling in an annoyed manner, she settled back against her cousin's back and nestled back into the comfy entwined position she had fallen asleep in before. Tucking his arm around her back while she shut her eyes to sleep again, it was Saturday and that meant to her; a day to sleep in. She'd be sure that Keba slept later today than normal, he deserved the extra rest for having helped her to save Naru and fending off Jadeite. She knew for a fact that the sleeping boy was a real idiot at times, never taking any extra time for sleep or rest if he could avoid it; she'd had enough of him not doing just as she asked him sometimes.

While Usagi slept, her dreams seemed to be a little less troubling for her, in Keba's company she did find that lots of things seemed to be a lot more at ease. This in a way settled it for herself, she would no longer tolerate the over-protectiveness of her cousin towards her; if anything she woud extend this in reverse towards him.

Though as Usagi was left to her thoughts in rest, her arms curled more around Keba's side while she rested her head on his shoulder. Here to spy the scene, Luna and Siele eyed the two resting royal family members. Neither of the two seemed to be too wise beyond their own intentions, both looking towards protecting the other and almost forgetting: they had friends and others who would go above and beyond to see things right.

"Siele...we must not fail in our mission, we have to protect Usagi and Keba, for the safety of the future we must." the black cat seemed to be very aware of the closeness between the two of them, she would see that despite this; that both would remain safe.

"We shall not fail Luna, so much is at stake and we guardians are presented with this chance. Let us see where it leads us." Siele would not fail her prince again, she owed him much for healing her when she had become lost and tainted.

That kindness would be repayed 1000-fold. Without anymore waiting, both cats took off to alert the two groups: the Banshou and the Senshi needed to learn of the royal duo's foolish actions, such dangers being taken, even if it was necessary at times...they needn't do so alone.

Where all would converge, the fates were the only ones who knew. As the forces of both light and dark continued their sacred dance, only the future would tell which side would truly prevail. And by the name of the Moon, Usagi had every intention of seeing that light danced the one in the lead.

(End Chapter)

I hope this chapter was exciting, it took me a bit of time to get things done with this chapter. But it had been waiting for too long, so I whipped it together and I do hope you've enjoyed it. Don't worry as much for the next chapter, I won't be quite as slow as this one, I am still alive.

Until the next time, I bid you fairwell, adieu.

-Quentix


	14. Chapter: Motions of Darkness

A/N: Well it's sure been a while but you can expect swifter updates, I finally have both concentration and ample time on hand for this. I will embrace the joys of writing once again! I have something well planned for all of you who have been waiting for this update, sorry for the dragged out length of time; but it will all be worth that much I promise. It is going to be longer than before; the content may catch you by surprise. Perhaps pairing, I might finally get onto it heh…we shall see.

Here we go!

(End A/N)

Chapter 13: Motions of Darkness, step forth Nephrite 

"…That idiot! What the hell man, Keba is getting out of line. He put himself in that kind of danger?" Hijamura snorted angrily at the thought of their de-facto leader's foolishness almost killing him. Even though it was the entire point of the trap, it was what the enemy had demanded in order to keep Naru safe. It wasn't that it didn't make sense, it just _why_ he'd done it, the reasoning was still very much Keba's own.

"Settle down, Hijamura. Our prince has done as he willed, they succeeded in destroying him and both are recovered. The matter was settled as well as we could ever hope. Let's just follow what Siele's advice was: we will keep closer tabs on the prince and attend more to hunts than he does. We will simply make the work lighter for him, by eliminating the dark forces more actively. We were keeping under the radar for the sake of keeping things clear with the Senshi, but since Keba's more reckless than Usagi, we're just going to have to step up our actions." the blind warrior, Toku made it very simple.

There was no need for them to argue over anything, the actions would simply have to be done quickly in order for this to have the kind of effects that they'd hoped for. It was a simple matter of addressing where and how they would apply this. They had yet to find the remaining members of their group, but that was perhaps just as well. There was going to be some kind of a need for their patrolling; that meant more fun that even the likes of Hijamura could enjoy.

"Hunt more, Hija-kun, complain less." Words from the normally kind Itani that were meant to incite a reaction.

He only smirked and rose from his seat, well the morning was still young and there was time to action, he headed off towards his school, Mugen Academy where he kept his eyes open on prospective students' or rather potential threats. Of course there were none that were here, it made his life rather dull, but this was a nice change of pace for him that he found.

Toku meanwhile turned to Itani and gestured to him, it was time for them to get to school. They would check on the way for any trouble and take care of it. If they could do their jobs then it would maintain a modicum of peace while allowing their skills to stay sharp. It was for the prince's own good that they did this, he was such a bold dolt whenever acting on his own.

-With Keba and Usagi-

There was nothing that could separate the two it seemed in late; ever since they'd defeated Jadeite they had maintained a closeness that rivaled best friends. It was much to Usagi's joy that she spent so much time with Keba and that every moment was freely hers to make a base decision on. She had no problem with that fact; it was what she'd hoped for earlier. It was nice to have moments of peace as they had; no youma attacks for the past few days had them focusing on school and just taking time to go out with her friends. It almost seemed strange to the girls that Keba was so close with them, but he wasn't an unwelcome guest after all, it was something that they were able to embrace. Just taking some instances out in life to get to know exactly what Keba was about. Was it possible for such a boy to be a mystery as he was?

His almost every action was easy enough to read; he did not hide his feelings and shared his insight on things with people. He was careful about his opinion often enough but then again who wasn't in a world like this? It was more than enough to say that one edgy or sharp tongued response about situations that may or may not call for it. He was sharp witted and quick to offer a joke that seemed to call for it. The boy was no doubt gifted all round with social situations, it was something that Ami noted. He was very smart and made sure not to let himself overstep his bounds and showed a strong courtesy. It was an affinity that came only with well-mannered individuals and it was no doubt that Keba seemed to be just that.

What was it about him that made it so nice to be in his presence? He was very sweet, but surely that was not reason enough for what it was that she felt within. A small stirring and a brief skip of her heartbeat, it wasn't what she thought she would feel from just being close to someone who was comparatively as smart as she was. He wasn't a genius by trade, but he applied himself diligently and had brought himself forward in order to stand at the forefront of any challenge. It was something that she found to be extremely admirable, how he pushed himself to the greater level in order to break boundaries. What was his true aim when applying himself? That very stimulation is what she had wondered about, the very thing that drove someone to go as far as they could.

"Ami-san, can I ask what it is on your mind?" he was able to see that something was troubling her, at the very least it was something that she was contemplating.

"Nothing at all Keba-kun, thank you for the concern." her quick response was perfectly timed, as befitting the fastest thinking mind of the sailor senshi, she felt that she had averted a moment of awkwardness.

However this only seemed to invite something that escalated a growing pink flush that was beginning to creep into her cheeks.

"Wonderful, so then Ami-chan, would you do me the honor of joining for an afternoon meal? We'll have just enough time before Cram School." the suddenness of his asking her did as he'd hoped and caught her off guard.

She had visibly paused before looking up to him with her face beginning to betray her feelings as her face was now soft red.  
"Um...yes of course, I'll meet you outside the front of the school." she had no reason to turn him down, it was kind of exciting to take a risk like this. It was so rare that she'd ever been asked out by any of the boys here, it was rather flattering that her study buddy was asking her out.

"See you after last bell promptly, I look forward to it Ami-chan." Keba offered her a gentle smile and sipped his water, it was one of the few break periods before the last two classes of the day started.

The distraction turned out to be rather nice for her she thought, as she went off she began thinking about what she'd ask Usagi if anything at all? She suddenly felt like knowing a little more personal things about Keba wouldn't be bad to keep in mind. If only they had known what lay ahead of them, a figure watching from the rooftop of the nearby school building. Turning from the school, she jumped into the air and disappeared in a quick flash of light, heading to inform her general of the actions of the target in question: Keba Tsukino.

-With Usagi-

As her duties had taken a greater place in her life, Usagi still was sure to patrol regularly both with and without Keba as she felt a growing need to protect. That desire that must have lead Keba to do what he did every day and sometimes twice in a day with a second patrol in the late evening, at first she admired him and now she found herself emulating that part of his direction and found it much to her liking. This was just the way that it should've been before...no this was no time to beat on herself over something silly like the past. Keba had warned her about worrying about the past: as remembering it for the purpose of never letting a tragedy happening again was key, but not the dwelling of an old pain.

She felt that she could stand it just fine as long as she kept her duty ahead, even if the balance with schoolwork was strange (and still a pain in the butt!) at times when one overwhelmed the other. Yet she was managing just fine and as long as she studied with Keba things went smoothly. Taking her next round of the downtown area of Tokyo, she was throwing in some business and pleasure at once by stopping in for a few goodies to tide her over until dinner. It was fairly harmless given the rigorous training that she'd been undergoing with Keba, it was building up her stamina majorly and some of her muscle tone as well. She'd noticed it in the morning that both her normally scrawny arms and legs were actually starting to gain some firmness and build to them. It was yet another boon of her serious training.

"You've come a long way Odango, I never thought you'd been so serious with studies." the words coming from inside the establishment she had just entered.

Looking to her right, she almost gasped in surprise but had caught herself and managed to pass him over with a single glance: he had surprised her with the sudden appearance.

"Oh its just you again, what do you want?" she replied rather drolly, sounding annoyed if anything he still liked to bother her.

At the moment she wasn't really in the mood for his antics.

"Why the dry reply? I was complimenting you for actually being serious instead of the clown I know you to be most of the time." a small grin breaking across his face, for whatever reason he felt drawn to her and his way of answering it: bugging her just a little bit each time he found her.

"Childish remarks rarely deserve anything more than that, so I am off to enjoy my day good bye." the brush off was almost callous, if not for her polite tone it would've been a colder version of one of Keba's brush-offs that she'd heard. Her cousin was very sweet but she found that he could slightly harsh even when polite.

She left Mamoru standing there before he could reply and moved past him to buy her goodies: something that surprised her that she did so easily. It was just like Keba had told her, simply that there was no need to invite more reasons to be troubled or annoyed by someone if you just cut them off at the root. It left her mentally smirking as she began picking out her favorite chocolates, a few pastries and some smaller sweets she knew she'd love. It was after all a good time to enjoy after a long patrol and day of school. Maybe she'd save some for Keba as it was something that she found herself considering a lot more: it was Keba's possible likes in sweets. Did she really spend that much time with him?

Perhaps a little bit since she just loved his company so much, it was wonderful that everything had been coming together the way that she'd always hoped it would. They were family, a team, comrades in a great struggle, and the remnants of the royal moon family. It was something peaceable to her heart to never be alone, truly alone in that sense. She loved her mother, father, and even Shingo...but they could never know the struggle against the Dark Kingdom and Keba was there to help keep it that way.

There was a moment that she was free to enjoy and that seemed to be the breath of life that had come back into her life, she wasn't bored with what had become her daily routine: finding time to see her friends amidst all of her more serious studying and habits that she was gaining seemed to be paying off. There was no exact way to describe the delight it was to live and breathe in a world that seemed far more vibrant to her now than it had before. Perhaps she had Keba to thank for this? No...he would just tell her that it came because she finally took the time to look and to smell the roses. The time to make sense of an enchanting life was a wonderful opportunity she found.

"Heh it really is just nice to stop and enjoy the day for what it is." Usagi was certainly not going to argue with what her cousin often reflected in his daily living. He was a great example, or as he often told her was that she just praised him too much, as such his modesty was easily visible. An endearing trait that she found for his adorable nature, he was such an unusual boy no matter which way you put it.

Though time and again she did wonder what the mysterious Banshou was about in truth, since even though she'd heard a portion of one of their secret meetings it had never been clear why they acted or what they truly did. She was smart enough to know they were close allies to Keba and that they hunted youma with a steady purpose, even though she hadn't equated this with the feeling that she couldn't shake: that there was a lot more to them even though destroying the Dark Kingdom was the ultimate goal. She just knew that they'd been guardians of a sort like the other senshi were for her, even though the ultimate reason for their activities was lost to her. That would simply be something she worked towards understanding at a later time.

While the blond went on enjoying her sweets she was being watched from the window by a man in a light brown coat and sunglasses. The figure adjusted his shades and turned from the odango wearing teen, was this possibly the girl who defeated Jadeite? He couldn't believe it! Not this pitiful little girl...no he was sure now that the real threat was the other one that was present with her that night. Soon he would have something information from his scouting youma's reconnaissance mission at the school grounds.

"Soon we will be seeing each other human, your days are numbered," even with the words barely spoken above a whisper he turned from the shopfront and took off at a careful pace, ensuring that he was in no rush. There was after all no reason to appear suspicious even if his victim was completely unaware of his being there. From the reports they'd received from Jadeite and his force's efforts, it was determined that either the actions taken by his youma or the lack of strategy that Jadeite was known for is what caused him to fail.

However something within his instinct told him that there was more to this than met the eye...it wasn't as if Jadeite was completely inept, be he a stooge who lacked strategy he would never have made it to the Shitennou. Though he never liked his comrade he did still respect the fact that he'd made it as far as he had and this pitiful human girl would pay for his death as of now it was simply a matter of when she would pay. With no further need to be on site Nephrite teleported from the enclosed alleyway and headed back to the abandoned church: it was time to make a plan. He would gather more information on his foes while prospecting some humans that would make great targets for his experiment with the energy draining plant he had constructed beneath the temple. It would only be a matter of time before this would take its final turn and the humans would help to revive his mistress from her long slumber.

-At the cafe, Ami 's POV-

As she had been prompted and directed by Keba to the location of the cafe Ami found herself sitting inside at one of the tables, hands neatly on the table with a cup of water in front of her. The owner of the cafe had smiled and asked her to sit wherever she felt comfortable, with the kindness expressed by the owner it was no wonder that Keba kept returning as a customer. With such a welcoming atmosphere it did manage to put some of the blue haired genius's nerves at ease. Just why was she so anxious about meeting Keba here? It was relatively harmless since it would just be tea and some snacks, likely conversation would ensue and it would be something polite between them: at least this was what she was telling herself. It did not explain why her heart continued to beat the way so rapidly? It was a unique feeling and while it was uncommon to her it was not unwelcome...it felt relieving that she just might have an admirer in Keba. It was at the very least a possible fact since Keba had never once asked her anywhere before and in many ways she did hope that it was as she was thinking right now, somewhere inside she was majorly excited with the chance for someone to like seriously.

It was about another two minutes before she'd seen her date enter the cafe, date...that sounded rather strange didn't it? But it was just what it was! She had been invited and Keba hadn't called it anything short of that, as her heart rate picked up once again she let off a breath and straightened herself out in the seat "Keba-san, over here!" she called to him and waved to him lightly, fortunately for her it had caught his attention. Once he'd seen her he headed in her direction and stopped once he was in front of the opposite seat to Ami.

For a moment she took the sight of his presence nearby her and she found herself unable to help but to smile softly at the sight of the sunlight behind him, it was in a strange way almost angelic to see the soft white-blond locks of his reflected in the afternoon sunlight. A thing she allowed to pass with a soft breath and a brief moment of closing her eyes, she relaxed her mind and her body at once while she heard the chair opposite her creak lightly as Keba settled into it. Now was the time for them to talk...wasn't it? As if rehearsed in her mind the first words swept with no hesitation.

"So Keba how were your last classes?"

"They were surprisingly fun, the instructor was in some kind of a stupor I noticed at first but then Kuwasa-sensei straightened out and gave us our homework. It was actually so easy I finished it before class let out."

"Kuwasa-sensei must've been out of any good material if that happened."

The subtle but well timed joke caused Keba to grin and chuckle, Ami giggled gently while sharing the humor about Kuwasa-sensei. The words 'easy' and 'work' did not go in sync with Kuwasa-sensei's work normally. It was a well executed maneuver and her mind felt as if it had to react strategically to Keba, yet she was as calm as she'd ever been suddenly; was this because she felt relaxed in his presence? There was nothing on her face but a serene expression and she wondered if it was because of him? Why hadn't she ever noticed this during their prior interactions? She had so many questions and not one steady answer in the favor of any of her thoughts.

She looked up at the sound of someone's presence, who was it now? Oh...right they were at a cafe as she heard the owner's question about what they wanted, Keba offered she speak first on that and she promptly nodded to him in thanks.

"I'll have some Oolong Tea and blueberry scone." the items had been decently priced and were things that she enjoyed, she imagined this would be acceptable to Keba's budget as well as satisfying her taste for a snack.

"I'll have some Darjeeling Oolong Tea and a Raspberry Muffin, please." his choices were rather intriguing on a small level, given the stark difference of their tastes. She noted that it was a tart and a bitter taste even though she hadn't made much more of a connection than that.

Thanking the owner for his taking their order soon afterwards she was left glancing politely at Keba and trying to think of something that she could say which wouldn't be overly awkward. But then he'd spoken and cleared away that strange quiet between them.

"Ami-san, this might be a little forward but I can think of no other way to put it..will you hear me out?" the words were laced with some hope, she could hear the softness in his tone.

"Of course Keba-san, please go ahead." her heart skipped into her throat as she felt her hands curl into one another, was he going to confess? No he couldn't have brought her here for that, she needed to calm down...to breathe first while he spoke. She needed to be logic-

"Ami-chan...we have known each other since the beginning of our time at Juuban Municipal Junior High School, we have been study buddies and friends for a while and I have grown very fond of you within that time. I feel that I must ask you...would you consider going out with me? I hope to become your boyfriend if I am worthy of such a placement." the wording was awkward for him, but his message was out.

The blue haired genius was at a loss for words and placed her hands against her chest, almost forgetting to breathe before she let off a deep sigh and released some air she'd been holding in for longer than she thought. It was during the next few instants of silence that she seemed to catch hold of herself. What was she to say in response to such a thing? She had hoped he would ask her this and now she almost thought she was dreaming. It was only after Keba's face seemed to be more unsure that she finally responded.

"Yes...yes I will go out with you Keba-kun, I happily accept! B-But let's take this a little slow okay? I think your great but, before I answer your second question let's go out a few times." she quickly centered on a middle ground since there was no rushing anything. Even though she was sure that he was the greatest choice she could ever have, she still wanted to be careful and wanted to be sure that it wasn't too awkward between them first. Part of herself was a little sad she didn't say yes to both; but it was better to be safe than sorry.

This was a suitable answer to Keba she found since his face lit up with a wide smile, did it really please him so much? She was sure that it had given the way he let off a sigh of relief, well it seemed he was just as nervous now wasn't he? It was easy to say that she herself was not the only one that was glad it was over and that brought some ease to her mind. Though with so many thoughts passing in a matter of seconds, she looked up in a timely fashion and smiled at the arrival of their food and tea. Had it really been that long?

The time at the cafe went relatively comfortable and as the two shared a few small humorous secrets with one another, one could easily see that a new bond was forged between senshi and banshou leader. Brains met grace this day and both paired off with the effectiveness of a fairytale, almost all at once seeming too sweet or perfect. The two had no idea what was going on at this very moment as senshi and monster clashed.

-Battle site: Downtown Tokyo-

As a blast of dark energy shattered the glass of a materials shop and sent various fabrics scattering from left to right, the very ribbons as if blood were splayed out across the shards and the once solid wooden frame of the window. Evading the slice of the wind from the youma, the princess of Mars crossed her fingers together and pressed both index fingers with the potential energy gather at their very tips, with her eyes shut in focus the swirling flames ignited over both hands and began to swirl madly with earnest vigor as both of those dark eyes lit with determination with her target in sight.

"Fire...Soul!" the angelic voice delivered the words that heralded the youma's destruction as the flaming blast was released.

As the blast of heat massed in a forged ball darted towards the tall creature and struck it down with violent prejudice, lighting the creature's flesh with an unnatural ease; the youma let off screeches of pain as its life was extinguished with soon nothing but a destructive pillar of flames left in its wake. The Senshi of Mars could not help but feel some unease, her extra sense was going off and warning her of the tremendous power building in the area...was it another youma?

As she turned to see what was causing the disturbance was a sudden blast of red light emitted from the nearby alleyway and shot a body spiraling out of its depths, something that she made out to be a youma. While she was preparing to act a red streak had left 6 cross markings along the youma's charring remains and left the body to unfold into many pieces. To her pleased eye the monster was well annihilated and the sense had begun to fade, though she had not dropped her guard. All she saw was a stranger in an odd uniform standing before her with a pair of dark eyes that focused upon hers with great intensity. Who was this? She could see the figure was not hostile since his katana was already sheathed and he'd turned to face her respectfully. Without another moment wasted, she spoke up.

"Thank you for the assistance stranger, but I'm gonna ask you this just once: who are you?" the words were bold and held her promise to get the answer from him with her next move.

The figure simply grinned and offered her a polite headbow before he kicked off of the ground and leapt onto the side of a building before taking off and disappearing over the small rise of the destroyed shop. While she planned to follow him at first, she'd found the shop had caved in slightly on the rooftop where he had been and at least for the moment she could not chase. While pleased with the fact that it was no enemy, it was still not enough not knowing who this person was. Was there another group out there doing what she and the senshi did?

She knew about Keba from Usagi and their adventures together, there was only one other thing that she imagined that it was, something that Usagi mentioned in passing to her and the others, this weird group called the 'Banshou' or something to that extent. They were supposedly associates of Keba and that made them at least good, but that wasn't enough for Mars. She wanted to know what kind of operation they were running and whether or not they were a potential danger or hazard to Usagi through Keba. Since they were with him, whatever they did would have an impact on whether they were hunted...ally or not, she was sure to remain wary of them. For now she'd leave it alone and try to get some answers from Keba or Usagi later.

_'This could be real bad...if we don't square it away now.'_ she murmured to herself before leaving the scene of battle herself, it was time to go.

(End Chapter)

Hope you liked that one, I know I had fun getting this one out and now I find it to be time to move onto bigger moves, this story is freshly revived and now I will take it to an even deeper cast! Some more depth and side adventures for the others ^^.

Till this next time, I bid you adieu!

-Quentix


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